[Editor’s note: The State Department FOIA release of 1981 withheld all mentions of Guyana Minister Hamilton Green from this cable. They are denoted below in red type.
[The text for this document was released in 2014 by the now-defunct Wikileaks website at https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1979GEORGE01600_e.html. This URL may be available through the Wayback Machine.]
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GEORGE 01600 091359Z
ACTION ARA-15
INFO OCT-01 ADS-00 L-03 FBOE-00 A-02 OCS-06 SSO-00 /027 W
——————128653 091410Z /53
O 091355Z APR 79
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9397
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PASS L/ARA FOR FORTUNE
PASS ARA/EX E.O.
12065: NA
TAGS: AFSP, CDES (PEOPLES TEMPLE) GY
SUBJ: PERSONAL EFFECTS OF JONESTOWN DECEDENTS
REF: STATE 54227
1. MINISTER OF HEALTH, HOUSING AND LABOR HAMILTON GREEN INFORMED AMBASSADOR AND DCM ON APRIL 6 THAT HE FORESAW NO PROBLEM WITH THE ASSUMPTION BY CONSULAR OFFICERS OF THE PERSONAL EFFECTS OF JONESTOWN DECEDENTS LOCATED ON THE DOCKS (A SIGNIFICANT PART OF 117 CRATES) AND GUYANA AIRWAYS DEPOTS. MINISTER GREEN STATED THAT HE HOPED TO BE ABLE TO GIVE HIS FORMAL PERMISSION BY APRIL 12.
2. MINISTER GREEN SAID THAT HE FORESAW NO PROBLEMS WITH THE QUESTION OF STORAGE CHARGES INSOFAR AS STATE-OWNED CORPORATIONS ARE CONCERNED. HE COULD NOT VOUCH FOR PRIVATE FORWARDERS (APPROXIMATELY 33 CRATES), BUT IF NECESSARY HE WOULD SIMPLY ORDER STATE OWNED FACILITIES TO TURN OVER PERSONAL EFFECTS TO THE EMBASSY. AMBASSADOR BURKE SUGGESTED THAT IT SEEMED LOGICAL TO INCLUDE SUCH
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CHARGES TO THE ACCOUNT OF THE PEOPLES TEMPLE AS COSTS WHICH THE GUYANESE GOVERNMENT IS SUING TO RECOVER.
3. MINISTER GREEN ADDED THAT HE HAD RECEIVED AN INVENTORY OF THE PEOPLES TEMPLE PROPERTY AT JONESTOWN, AND AS SOON AS HE HAD REVIEWED IT HE WOULD GIVE THE EMBASSY A COPY.
4. ACTION REQUESTED: WE WILL NEED AUTHORITY TO RENT PREVIOUSLY REPQUESTED WAREHOUSE SPACE TO STORE THE PERSONAL EFFECTS FOR WHICH THE CONSULAR SECTION IS STATUTORILY RESPONSIBLE, AS PRESENTLY LEASED STATE AND AIR WAREHOUSES DO NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT FREE SPACE. WE HAVE LOCATED ADEQUATE WAREHOUSE FACILITIES AT G$450 PER MONTH (I.E. , US $170). LENGHT [LENGTH] OF TIME REQUIRED WILL DEPEND UPON WHETHER WE CAN OBTAIN DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS FROM NEXT OF KIN TO REDUCE AMOUNT OF PERSONAL EFFECTS TO QUANITY [QUANTITY] WHICH CAN BE STORED IN PRESENTLY LEASED SPACE. AS DEPARTMENT IS AWARE, REGULATIONS REQUIRE THAT UNCLAIMED PERSONAL EFFECTS MUST BE HELD FOR ONE YEAR.
DWYER [Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Dwyer]
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