[Editor’s notes: The transcript of this document retains its original spellings, with corrections noted only where necessary for clarity.
[This document was duplicated at G-1-h-14a – 14c.
[Likely in an effort to save paper, Temple members often used the reverse side of old documents. That is the case here, and the reverse side of one page of this memo’s duplicate was not transcribed.]
G-1-g-18
Deborah Touchette
March 18, 1978
Notes On Guyana’s Ambassador
to the USSR
1) Ambassador to the USSR: met by Sharon Amos, Tim Carter, Deborah T. at a luncheon held at the Palm Court… we showed him the article in the World Council of Churches magazine and told him of the article in the New Times. He didn’t seem overly impressed. He asked Tim if the article was written by one of our members? Tim said no, it was not, just someone that worked closely along with us and was familure with our work. Sharon and Tim basically gave him some background of p.t., told him of our support of leftest movements & people including the Chillien refugees. When asked if he knew much about our group, he said he did not, but had read the article about the delivery of twins over radio in the North West. He said normally in the type of work he does he would only here [hear] the major problems that come up, he declared he had not herd [heard] anything about us though. Ambassador said he knew something of PT because he had met the woman who knows Bonnie Mann… Paula Adams. Sharon asked him about Guyana’s relationship with Korea. He said Korea was probably the most beautiful country he had been in scenicaly, they were highly industerlized. Deb asked about Guyana’s relationship with China. He said it was good. China was the only country that gave loans with out strings attached. He said you have to understand the chinese though. They don’t like Russia so there [their] foreign policy includes everyone anti-Russian e.g. Russia is supportive of the PPP, therefore China gave something like 54 million dollars to Guyana’s PNC non alined. Sharon mentioned we had good support from a lot of people and Minister, but we had one not so good article, a letter from [Guyana Minister of Development Desmond] Hoyte in response to the article we had written in the chronicle [Guyana Chronicle] about our clinic and that we were assisting all people in the North West Region. He said Hoyte was a good man, very direct. Sharon said she thought he could have come to us first and confronted us on the issue, because we do give free medical facilities to all ect. and evidently he took it wrong, we weren’t trying to say we were the only medical facilities there. She asked him what he thought of the article? He shifted uncomfortably, shurgged his shoulders and said it was hard for him to say because he had not been there. He asked us the types of crops we were growing, said guyana was concerned about doing things for export and asked if we were looking into cannery. He had herd that canneries were not expensive, something like (30,000), thirty thousand dollars. He mentioned parboiling okra and packing it or canning pineapple, he said he had no real knowledge of cannery, but knew they needed one. Sharon asked it [if] there would be any problem in geeting it into the country. He said no, he felt the Govt. would welcome it. I mentioned there might be a problem with getting it through customs. He agreed that customs was even difficut even for him. He said the only way to change the economic situation in Guyana would be to educate the people to produce. Sharon told him that perhaps changing the medium would be a way of accomplishing this. she had noticed the movies potray the Hollywood sign of life only. I mentioned perhaps it would be good to get a documentry on Watts or Harlem to let the peole see situations as they are. He acknoledged that the medium can be used. The Ambassador fromally [formerly] worked in the Ministry of National Development under Dr. Reid [Guyana Deputy Prime Minister Ptolemy Reid], and has been working with the Ministry of Foreign affairs for one month, he was 26 when
G-1-g-19
-2-
he got his job at National Development, work there six years now in his early thirties, has no family, said he faced a lot of difficulties when he began, he was idealistic and found he had to make a lot of compermises. This upset him a great deal but he later found that politics is compermise in every country all over the world. He noted that Russia has companies from Japan and the US working in Russia. Sharon asked him how this could be… What kind of countries? He said oil companies