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Bonnie [Laurence “Bunny”] Mann (visit of him to our house evening to see Marcie [Marceline Jones] 27/10/78)
Sharon Amos
-he said that he uses our group as an example in talking to Guyanese in the US–when they complain about how bad it is in Guyana and how so many people are leaving Guyana, he says well there are 1200 Americans who left US and went to Guyana
-he said he told the PM this too and told the PM how he uses us as a example of how Guyana couldn’t bee so bad if 1200 Americans came here
-I asked what the PM said and he said “nothing, he just listened”
-he feels our PR was bad in that we should have talked about the good that the project is accomplishing, the moral values we have for youth which are missing in US society (he should know as they are missing in him) –and that Mark Lane taking on the whole US govt. and the CIA etc. is not wise to take on such a fight
-I said that we had tried to do this for years with no success and i-n fact, not only wasn’t it successful but the campaigh to smear us got worse and worse, and now the only way we’ve been able to get good press is to threaen a suit I said it’s like a bulley, if he thinks you won’t fight back, he’ll attack you worse, but if he thinks you are going to be trouble and put up a fight he might think twice
-he still disagreed with this (Maybe he’s reflecting more than his own view)
-he said that the CIA wasn’t going to stop because of our attack on it and that he’s told the PM the same thing, it isn’t helpful to mount an anti-imperialistic campaign, you have to learn to be subtle and sharp
he said we need a good PR man who could advise us how to get good PR and who had contacts
[paragraph circled]-he went on and on several times about how Maria [Katsaris] had botched up things with [Steven] Katsaris but said Mr. Katsaris was intellectually and emotionally dishonest because Bonnie had gone to all kinds of trouble to help him and get things arranged but Katsaris had gone back and said that nothing had been done for him and that had not even said thank you but wrote back that this thing with Maria had just made him more confirmed that Maria was brainwashed
-he talked about how things are getting worse in the US, social security taxes had been upped and how congress didn’t even make a pretense of being for the little man but gave the advantages in legislation to money interests–and how proposition 13 was very evil and a bad precedent
-Marcie showed him the article about the KKK in Marin
-he said how Merve [Mervyn] Dymally is having a hard time and might not get elected and how he thinks Merve (and he told Merve this) should get togheter a group of 3rd world people in the US and this would make the legislators take some interest in them because this group is large and has votes
-Marcie told about her life with JJ, how he was naturally a non conformist and how Marcie’s dad was very conservative and JJ said that prayer about God help this state of affairs etc.
-Red Percera had dropped over too thisevening – get the messaage that we had been trying to reach him/ Bonnie and he both were at the Union presentation where Reds got an award/ bonnie had said the PM had asked him, Bonnie to attend and that the PM had made a very strong speech which Bonnie had give him some ídeas about, and the PM used the ideas and smiled at Bonnie after because he had used Bonnie’s ideas. (Bonnie said the speech will be in tomorrow’s paper and I should be sure to read it as it was good and I said I would and the PM’s speeches were always very strong and good
-I told him about the fact that he Bonnie had told us about Guyana getting the IMF before it had been madepublic so he was very accurate with us and what did he think of the IMF situation
-he said he had told the PM that people want to see improvements and they don’t pay much attention to ideology and that it was important that they get some needs
-he and Marcie talked about the terrible rise of prices in the US
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BB-2-uu
Sharon Amos
Bunny Mann
-said that people have both good and bad to say about us, Jackie, this English “omen he knows says that there is talk that suspicious things are going on like our boat always comes in at night (we said that we have to pay attention to the tide and that’s what determinesit)
-he also said that a man claims he was beaten up by us on the side of the road and he was a cripple to begin with (I mentioned that this was rediculous and we would not be party to such a thing andif anything we have to be super aware of what we do because people do start rumors etc.)
-he said that Guyana will probably get moreaid from US in 1978 because of Carter tho he doesn’t think that Guyana is still that much of interest to US, but he said that Wills in one of his speeches bragged about the establishment of better relationship with the US
-he said in regard to the conspiracy and poisoning of Marcie, calmly and with no compassion, well you have to expect that kindof thing if you’re in the struggle / we said we certainly do expect it but we still feel upset about a woman who has given so much for the struggle being harassed etc.
-he used socialist terminology, said that America is going down, the system is bound to be self-destructive
-said he read no recent bad articles about us, said they are tired in the US of the subject he thinks as nothing was proved against us
-I praised him saying your thought he was brilliant, outspoken etc. and that you thought a great deal of him – he said that JJ exaggerates in his praise
-said that the head of (Carmichael) Mathews Ridge feels we are a threat because we have surpassed then but on the other hand we have motivated people to feel that things are possibly because they see us bringing in supplies, etc. and they begin to think they can do things too.
-we told him about Kaitum and the medical care and how in this way people are more satisfied with the govt. etc. (the babies etc.)
-he wouldn’t tell us what he wanted to talk to you about, said he would tell you directly