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(Note: This tape was transcribed by Sarabeth Trujillo. The editors gratefully acknowledge her invaluable assistance.)
Jones: –tion, attention, attention. Sorry to inform the committee that’s um, practically put up the practice (unintelligible) off nights, and it’s beautiful that you’re ready for the news tonight, but you’ll save this lesson for tomorrow night, you can add whatever other thing from the news release too. But this is a free night. There will be movies under the pavilion and nothing else, there’ll be no language and no news, it’ll be people’s free night to do what they wish, other than getting out of the beaten path. ‘Cause at ten o’clock, the curfew, unless you are in the theater watching the news or in the library studying. After that you must be in your own cottage. Due to the fact that Venezuelans crossed the border every night, according to the Soviet ambassador and the PNC leaders, our own party’s, Peoples National Congress leadership.
I would like to say again – I want no talking – that to those that are worrying about going to Soviet Union and opportunities, you are completely ignorant. Not only are there opportunities when you get there, to go to any degree of college you want to free, there will be scholarships next year that will come through for young people here on the project. ‘Cause this year’s been used up. Just as there will be cultural scholarships for entertainment like we have hopefully this year, but definitely next year. Because they don’t use them and they’re going to direct them directly to us next time. And when you get to the Soviet Union – if you were to go there – you will have completely more freedom. because we won’t have to worry about little people who wanna run away. The authorities will take care of them.
And I wanna make it very clear, we’re not going to worry anymore about it here. The next person who run– runs away, we’re gonna get the police and commandeer Brigadier General [Clarence] Price, who’s the head of the Guyana Defense Force? – would you please have a seat and stop until I get through with this – Brigadier General Price is the commander of the Air Force, the Army, all military units of this Guya– Guyana Socialist– Socialist Republic, and the moment anybody leaves, we’re gonna turn it right over to him, we’re not gonna break production, we’re gonna turn it right over to him, and we turn– GNS Norman, another great friend of ours, the general in charge of that, Guyana National Service and the head of the police is Mingo [Vibert Mingo], Dr. Mingo, who’s our very dear friend, Minister of Home Affairs, that’s the minister, one of (unintelligible) of all local police. So they will take care of the matter. We will not bother to put 30 people off our work force and run after you. We’re not gonna do it. You can take your chances with the tigers, you can take your chances with the snakes and the bugs. I can tell you one thing, they have some (unintelligible) down here, the one that went off.
And I don’t know why people would want to leave the uh, body of socialism, when you’ve seen the miracle today of Carrie Langston falling on her head. The people heard her two cottages down, and she come out without any harm, she should have had her neck broken and she should have at least had her skull cracked and blood go into her brain and been a vegetable for life. You’ve seen the young man [Ricky Johnson] with gasoline pull through. Saw the young man couldn’t urinate for 25 hours, and I walked in, and he urinated like some giant uh, rock would come out through his penis, it’d make such a joke as it went in. You saw last night the beautiful one young girl that had septicemia and in– incurable bacterial diseases of blood – Teri Smart – now she’s beautifully healed today. You saw James Baisy who had a terrible kidney infection and was raging out of control, we had no way to get him to emergency service, you know when I went by him, his temperature went down.
But if – when we go to Soviet Union – you do not wish to go, we can leave a contingency here, and when you get to the Soviet Union, you don’t wanna stay, they certainly won’t make you stay. All you have to do just ask to leave, and you can go back to fascist USA with its concentration camps and everything else. I hear some, because of race uh– there not enough black people there, well, there happen to be thousands of black people there, they just don’t live in any one specific neighborhood. And the reason there’re not millions is because they did not engage in slavery. Do you understand what I mean? So there can’t be millions, because only reason there are millions of uh, blacks in America– North America is because USA involved themselves in slavery. The Soviets, the Russians never took in black slaves. So that’s uh, in their favor, not against them. There’s a hundred and fifty different racial and national ethnic groups in the Soviet Union. A hundred and fifty. That’s about as many differences of race and nationalities as you can find in the world. And they want us for the primary reason, that we are black, integrated, Indian, white, integrated, and they want black and Indian communists. And it’s a definite thing, it’s a door we should keep open, that’s why the band that must work hard, the basketball team also, we’re giving them the alternative of both, or maybe they want two–one or the other or both. Who knows? We’ll have more freedom, as I’ve said, than you have here. We won’t have to have the worries, and uh, they even offered, as you know, to build all the buildings for us before we arrive. So it’s been a very gracious situation, and racism is the second highest law that is forbidden for all the people, the second most important law, offense, offensive law is to have race prejudice and to demonstrate it. If you do, they will immediately bring you to a criminal court – not a civil court – if you use a racist slur towards anybody else of a different color. So some of you are unduly worried, and as far as opportunity (unintelligible) get it, naturally gonna take months, they’re gonna profile us, not about whether you’ve got a record or a jail record or how bad you were when you were young, but they’ll all want to see there’s no CIA people here. That’s natural, and they’re gonna check that out. It takes some months to get this done. And in the meantime, we’ve got to work this place to its fullest, because when the Presidium comes, the top leadership of the Soviet, delegation comes to see us here, they must see a very productive place, a beautiful landscape, and a lot of smiling faces with a heavy amount of news. And speaking Russian as well as we can. But some of you are frightened that you’ll never learn the language. They will allow us to have a commune of our own there. So it would not be so important to you that you speak Russian. But we just want to do it as much as possible. The students certainly who want to go on to other experiences or schooling or off to Africa to help with liberation. (unintelligible phrase). There’s a million opportunities. But some of you who are fearful of language, don’t worry, you’ll learn enough to get by and, in our own commune, they’ll allow us to speak English, and Russians –Soviets, by the way, don’t ever call them Russian – the Soviet Union, the United Soviet Socialist Republics, (Pause) their second language is English. Everybody practically knows English. They teach English from nursery school on up. That’s how important they consider English is, because their principal enemy is America, who is trying to (unintelligible word) socialism all over the world and so they want to be able to speak the language, to know the nuances, and to understand the communications closely in the nuclear age. But after you get there, you do not like it, you have the privilege to go back to United States, in Babylon, and die in a concentration camp or be blown up in a nuclear war, where there’ll be no underground shelters and cities like there is in the Soviet Union and China. That’s your privilege.
That’s about the sum and substance of what I had covered previously. But unfortunately, due to the fact that these people tape me and don’t tell me when a generator change comes, you cannot hear what I’m saying. Jann Gurvich is gonna type up any other high points that I have not gotten on this tape, and this tape is to be played several times tomorrow, so that you’ll understand what I’m trying to communicate. But, in the future when a generator change comes, will you please get on the li– uh, on the microphone here, come in here, on my line and tell me so that uh, I won’t continue. because this– it sounds like somebody that’s drunk or it sounds like somebody that’s crazy on that PA system, when you tape me on one generator and then let me speak on another. It’s uh, it’s inaudible, it’s impossible to understand.
I think I have covered– covered the entirety of it. Just be sure you don’t call the Soviet Union’s alliance the Warsaw Pact. Get that out of your language also. It’s the Warsaw Treaty. Pact is something kept for wolves. Like they consider North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it’s a pact of wolves now trying to make an alliance with South America. Chilean, Chile, fascist Chile, (unintelligible word) Namibia. The Soviet Union’s not gonna stand by idly. Some of you wanna fight, you get the chance to fight. Then you wanna be on– on the soil of Africa to help the liberation, you’ll get the chance to do so.
Toss that stuff out over there, in that library– between that library and the second school pavilion! My God, we do not have this. So opportunities are unlimited, opportunities are galore. And when you speak of the Soviet Union and her allies, remember it’s the Warsaw Treaty, not Pact. The Soviets are not a pack of wolves, like uh, animals like USA that uh, try to kill and eat and destroy all of the life of every nation. It’s only capitalism that has pacts. And Russia– there’s only one state and it’s what caused much of prejudice in the past, because the Soviet Union resents having people speak of Russia. That’s only one ethnic group in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union are the United Socialist Soviet Republics.
There is no news now and (unintelligible word) news reviews. That’s some beautiful films underneath there. You can see them. Some of them’ll be tested on later, so you can get them out of the way if you want. Uh, there’s a comedy, parody on race, and a very good film on concentration camps. There’s no news and no language tonight. When you get a free night, I will tell you just on the verge of it. Because we have some people who’ll do anything in their power to manipulate when they think time’s in their hands to get attention. Your day off may be a full day, but it won’t al– won’t always fall on Sunday, do you follow what I’m saying? You may not know it until the night before. So plan your day to have everything ready for our day off earlier than Sunday or the day after. You cannot– You can’t tell. You just don’t know, but I can guarantee you, it won’t always be Sunday. Thank you and much love. (Pause) (tape edit)
Part 2:
(comes in mid-word) –ation on this border. That’s why you are a fool to try to go out there. It’s a wonder one of you hasn’t been mistaken for an Amerindian and kidnapped. We have ab– absolute protection inside Jonestown. We have never had a snake bite. We have never had any serious– nothing that hasn’t been corrected. Do you realize what a miracle it is that a people in a foreign country, foreign to big machinery, foreign to cutting– felling trees and we have not had one injury that has not been recovered or healed through Jim Jones? You ever stop to think about that? People who never, never knew the farm life, and no accident that has not been healed by Jim Jones, when we’ve had people explode, blown to smithereens, their bodies layin’ in shambles. Truck run over one, now completely restored, I don’t think you’ve (unintelligible word) the fact of gratitude for that dimension of socialism that you should. There should be a good deal of gratitude for that dimension of socialism. Now get where you’re belonging, and cut down the noise. You want to be (unintelligible phrase)–
(tape edit)
Part 3:
News. Remember this evening’s people’s rally, 7:30, maybe 7:45, promptly in our seats, prepared for testing which is a certainty. Be sure to study the news. Do your best to the work effort. Otherwise we have the blood of many who are seeking liberation. There’s a number of broadcasts that I have picked up about various racial flare-ups throughout the United States, even in Canada and worse in England.
Please let us work, and I’m waiting on that progress report to see if you can put as much work into eight hours as you did ten, so there’d be more time. I will give evenings off, I want to. But some who have been anarchistic have put a burden on the rest of us. I want to be able to give you days off. But unfortunately I cannot announce what day they will be, because we do not want to put an unnecessary burden upon Guyana Defense Force. However we will follow their suggestion, most thoroughly. They said to stop by any means necessary, anyone from leaving that are trying to violate rules, or to leave this commune in any other way than a legal way. And so it is illegal to run away and be in the jungle. It’s a crime to be running loose in the jungle. It’s considered a menace to health, it brings the entire army if it’s done deliberately, the army and navy and the air force of Guyana, the police will hold you responsible. So we want no more of this kind of madness or attention-getting, because you’ll be loser in the long run. Be also sure that you listen after this as closely as possible to the speech I gave last night about various questions as to our future, which is bright and beautiful. We have a marvelous opportunity before us, and we have also a new place offered to us in Africa. It’s perfectly fantastic. We’re not naming it because we want no security leaks. So we have many options of freedom, and that’s something that our brothers and sisters in the States do not have. They have no option, no bright tomorrow.
In Moscow today Leonid– (tape edit) In Moscow today, Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin met Algeria’s president [Houari] Boumedienne who has arrived in the Soviet Union on a friendship working visit. The leaders of the two countries exchanged views on issues that brought them closer in mutual alla– alliance. Special attention was paid to the situation in the Middle East. Both parties firmly renounced the results of the Camp David sellout that [U.S. President Jimmy] Carter held just outside of Washington, a conclave with Egypt and Israeli Zionist, which in no way represented the people that had been oppressed in their land dispossessed from them. In that meeting concluded by the leaders of Egypt and Israel and USA – Carter being the puppet for the Trilateral Commission – against the interest of the Arab countries. The leaders of the Soviet Union and Algeria expressed firm belief that lasting peace in the Middle East can only be achie– chi– a– achieved exclusively on the basis of the unconditional and complete withdrawal of Israeli fascist troops from all the Arab territories occupied in 1967 on the basis of the execution of the (unintelligible word, sounds like “martial”) of rights of the Arab peoples of Palestine in keeping with the United Nations decisions. The Soviet Union Presidium voted unanimously a firm endorsement of this position, that any other kind of resolution will not be tolerated. A note of warning from Radio Moscow more stronger than has been noted in weeks.
Chairman of Bulgaria’s State Council [President Todor Zhivkov] is going to Nigeria on a state visit. He has been invited by the head of the federal military government. Commentaries in the Bulgarian press underline that the first visit to Nigeria by the Bulgarian head of state had an expression of a feeling of solidarity of the Bulgarian people with the struggle of the African nations for freedom and independence. As you know, Bulgaria is a member of the Wars– the– the Warsaw Alliance. Never say Warsaw Pact. Also we don’t use Russia to describe the United Soviet Socialist Republics. Or don’t use the word “pragmatic,” use the word “realism,” but those are words that are brainwashed examples– and don’t use satellite, uh, such as that. Bulgaria is an ally in the Warsaw Treaty, a communist nation. And it’s interesting that Nigeria, that had been very strong pro-American until Carter was caught dealing with the oil interest, banker rich interest, and trying to exploit the Nigerian people in the Hilton Hotel there. Ever since then there’s been a steady move by Nigeria towards the Soviet alliance. The Bulgarian people, the paper points out, expect that the visit will make a great contribution to the development of the cooperation between Bulgaria and Nigeria. A communist nation and Nigeria, still a capitalist nation but who is deep and– uh, deep resentments and deep suspicions against USA and her imperialist lackeys. The cooperation based on friendship and mutual understanding will increase throughout the Soviet Union and her allies.
The appointment of new ministers in the provisional military government of Ethiopia – socialist Ethiopia – has been announced. The Ethiopian resolution [revolution] has gained– gained a convincing victory over foreign and home reactionaries that have been backed by renegade Chinese foreign policy and US imperialism. And it continues to advance towards building a new society of social justice and equality. The point was made by Chairman of the Provisional Military Administrative Council Mengistu [Haile Mariam] that the Ethiopian working people have now launched a large-scale campaign to fully organize a radical social and economic response in the country to develop the national economy devastated by war in complete accord with the principles of Marxist/Leninism in rebuilding a new society.
One of Mo– One of Mozambique’s leaders has spoken highly of the country’s women in national development. In a meeting with representatives of the national women’s organization, the government leader said that Mozambique women are in the forefront – even though they are only three years young in the revolution of Marxist/Leninism – that they’re in the forefront of building up the new society. Today they hold responsible posts in every ministry, government office, and party organization. They head collective communities, cities, villages, schools, and factories, and side by side with men they defend the republic’s borders against intrusion from the racist regimes that are upheld now only by the imperialist USA and her lackeys in Rhodesia and Union of South Africa.
The Moscow-based Secretariat of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance – which includes six European socialist countries, Soviet Union, Cuba, Vietnam, and Angola also – announced that their per capita for the socialist country has gone up an– an average of nearly fourteen percent since the beginning of the year. Employment is absolute and complete in all socialist states. According to the official reports in the countries of Western Europe, there’s been no expansion since earlier– early this year, but we find a 14% increase in the socialist world. The highest rate of growth in the socialist countries is in machines, power, and electronics. In the Soviet Union, more groups of young volunteers have come to agricultural projects to take part in the economic development of the so-called non-black soil zone. The vast territory stretching from the Baltic Sea– tropical balmy regions to the Ural Mountains has a population of nearly 60 million. The government program provides for the building in the zone of major land reclamation systems, animal farms, processing plants, and settlements. This should sharply increase farm output and incomes of the rural population. It’s quite likely that this is the warm zone that will be a challenge to us, that’s also been offered as well, as I mentioned, we have our great opportunity in a African nation which I shall not mention that this time.
The American dollar weakened markedly– The Ame– American dollar wicked– weakened markedly on the European Foreign Exchange again Mon– today the sixteenth. Seventeenth rather. Theorists said the market reflected the lack of confidence in the current administration’s ability to take action to solve any of America’s economic problems are in fact the total devastation that has beset capitalism and the Tri– Trilateral Commission that is trying to maintain the powerhold on the world– 66% of the properties of the world and allowing two out of three of the babies of the world to go hungry. There is no ru– way that capitalists are finding to balance their payments, and so the dollar continues to fall.
The cardinals of the Caro– Roman Catholic Church have elected the first non-Italian pontiff– pontiff in 400 years. Pope John Paul Two – the Second – is from Poland. This is a change indeed for the Roman Catholic Church. For 400 years, the Roman Catholic Church had been ruled exclusively by Italians. (Pause)
Thailand. Several college and institutions that Thai students are demanding freedom from government control, according the Thai information center. Thammasat University– Thammasat University, 1500 students rallied to protest the college administration’s ban on student self-government. Earlier in March, students at Bangkok’s (unintelligible name) University distributed lea– leaflets condemning the university’s unfair treatment in suppressing their right to elect their own leaders. The resurgence of student activism comes after the severe repression of the progressive student movement following the October 1976 military coup in uh– in Thailand, that occurred on the sixteenth of the month. A year later, when a right-wing civilian government replaced the military junta, the government made promises of limited student activities. The limitations however included a ga– included a prohibition against student unions drafting their own r– own rules. Takes a great deal of courage for the students to demonstrate, because it can be a life sentence or public execution by firing squad. Nonetheless the Thailand students will have their rights be known.
Dominican Republic. The new administration of the Dominican Republic recently released 13 of 200 political prisoners held by the former right wing government, the London-based Latin American political report LAPR noted yesterday. The thirteen were the first to benefit from an amnesty law passed just this last week by the liberation administration of Antonio Guzman. The report said a number of political exiles are expected to return to the country under the amnesty law.
(recording ends, previous tape for five seconds) Have radio contact. Take one of our units, I’m quite capable with the new thing. (Back to recording)
The London-based Latin American political report. President Guzman earlier proposed a special commission to review these cases, but it was voted down by the Congress dominated by his own party, the Dominican Revolutionary Party, with heavy pressures from the United States. The presidency of Guzman is still being looked at microscopically and thoroughly – surveilled thoroughly – by the United States imperialists, as they feel they’ve lost a hold on the Dominican Republic with the election of the left-leaning President Guzman. Another legal issue, the government of the Dominican Republic summarily dismissed an assistant prosecutor who ordered a police raid on the home of Polibo – Polibio? – [Felipo] Diaz, former President Joaquin Balaguer’s lawyer and advisor. The dismissal abated speculation that the Guzman administration was on a vendetta to persecute members of the former government.
In one of the first diplomatic moves since the party came to power in– in August, Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez is expected to visit Santa Domingo soon to ratify a trea– treaty on trade and technico– technical cooperation, as he’s also expected to be in Guyana very shortly and sign a treaty of friendship.
Today the next in command (unintelligible name) rather, the next in command to our beloved friend the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Ptolemy Reid, the Chairman of the PNC, the Peoples National Congress, our party of our Prime Minister Forbes Burnham, has also announced to us as he dined with us that world opinion would not allow Venezuela to march across our land, because (stumbles over words) one other time before Venezuela only attempted to move two or three miles into the area, and world opinion was too disturbed, and it’s even more disturbed, and we being Americans would make it even more difficult.
Students take over university. Students at the University of Marine Sciences in Ensenada, the Mexican state of Baja California, took over the institution in response to cutbacks in funds. Students are still holding the university.
Nigeria. Military government, as you know, has adhered to its promises to return the country to civilian rule. It has lifted the 12-year ban on political parties and civilian political activities. The nationwide radio and television broadcast, the head of the state, Lieutenant General [Olusegun] Obasanjo also ended the state of emergency imposed since the first military coup in January 1966. The communist party is also legal, and there is a great left activitist movement in Nigeria, as you see, welcoming even the head of the communist party of Bulgaria.
The following guest column is an interview with Jose– Jose Benito Escobar, a leader of the Nicaraguan Sandinista National Liberation Front. It was conducted in Havana earlier this year. Just a uh, little bit of its um, feeling, said the– the Frente Sandinista was born 1961 as a historical necessity of our people to confront the [Anastasio] Somoza dictatorship that is upheld by US capitalism. In a more effective way, we saw that it was necessary to endow the Nicaraguan revolutionary movement with an organization wish a– which has its foundation– that has the different grou– uh, popular sectors, the workers, peasants, students, and other sectors. But in the years since 1961, a series of demonstrations that US does not uh, intend to allow any freedom for Nicaragua, the Sandinistas have become Marxists/Leninists. All of these groups have merged into a Marxist/Leninist front, and this Frente Sand– Sandinista was born as a union of the new Nicaraguan movement. The Revolutionary National Youth, the Unitary Nicaraguan Front, and the veteran Sandinistas who fought with General Agoston– Augusto Sadinino– Sandino [César Augusto Sandino] against the third intervention of the United States of America. Three times, United States of America uh, by fascist aggressive design, sent US military forces into Nicaragua. Three times in this century. And those who survived the repression of that awful nightmare, where the US behaved as a fascist imperialist colonialist power by direct Marine invasion – three times – first called the movement Sandinista, and in 1962 called the National Liberation Front, but it’s now renamed as the Marxist-Leninist Sandinista– Sandinista Liberation Front. Bravo to the Nicaraguans as they continue to with– hold, to hold out for freedom in spite of the fact that three-quarters of the population are either in asylum, abroad exiled, or being tortured in prison, or have been killed. The people of Nicaragua will be freed. no matter how military aid Washington continues to pour into that area of the world, no more than NATO’s trans-Atlantic proposal, and with the Chilean, white Chileans going into Namibia, will be tolerated. The Soviet Union has made it clear that they will not stand by and see Chilean mercenaries in Nai– Namibia interfering with black Africa’s right to be free.
Thus ends the news of the day and commentary. Be sure you take thought of the previous remarks, and if necessary replay the first part of the speech that I gave several times during the day. Much love, and show your love by your work. Show your care and concern for our people, show your care and concern for getting options to go to these other nations. Educational scholarships that will be all ready the first of the year available for us, if we work well what we have here. Essential to all these open doors is that we fruitfully build this to the highest.
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Tape originally posted March 2009