BB-31-a-5
January 6, 1978
Peoples Temple Agricultural Project
PO Box 893
Georgetown
Dear Comrade Minister:
We are sending you the enclosed article as a forewarning that Tim Stoen has indicated he has plans to come to Guyana very soon. Stoen has been quoted in the US press, having made statements that reflect negatively on Guyana (e.g., referring to Guyana as a “backward” country).
Stoen, who loves the limelight (as shown by the enclosed article), came to Peoples Temple pretending to be interested in working for the rights of the oppressed. As it turned out, he was only interested in using People’s Temple to advance his own career as an attorney. He is not a Socialist. In fact, he has given his cooperation to the Interpol agent ([Joe] Mazor) who is orchestrating the conspiracy against us. (Interpol works closely with the FBI, CIA, and US Treasury Dept. Additional background is enclosed.)
We wanted you to be posted of Stoen’s background in case he should try to contact you, as it is evident he is coming in an attempt to stir trouble and garner more negative publicity against us and Guyana. (The proper authorities have been notified and Stoen’s visa is being revoked.) He is capable of being extremely devious and will likely employ devisive tricks to manipulate uninformed persons.
We appreciate your taking the time to consider this matter.
Cooperatively yours,
/s/ Mike Prokes
Mike Prokes
Associate Minister
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[BB-31-a-6 is a duplicate of BB-31-a-5]
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[BB-31-a-35 is a letter from early June 1978 to the General Manager of the Guyana Telecommunications Corp., but the type is too faded to read.]
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[Editor’s note: This letter also appears at BB-29-o]
4 June 1978
Peoples Temple Agricultural Project
PO Box 893, Georgetown
Prime Minister Forbes Burnham
Office of the Prime Minister
Public Buildings
Dear Prime Minister Burnham:
We wish to extend an invitation to you (and whoever you may wish to bring along) to come to visit our agricultural project and medical clinic in Jonestown. In case you are not aware of it, our school has been officially accepted into the Guyana school system which we are very proud of.
We’ve heard through a couple of different sources that you were recently planning to pay us a visit. Please know that you are always welcome to drop in at any time.
Within the last month we read in the [Guyana] Chronicle that there is a plan for resettling white bigots from South Africa in certain countries of Central and South America (such as Costa Rica, Bolivia, in Brazil, to name a few). Enclosed is a petition that members of Peoples Temple have signed, protesting such a plan. With your permission, we would like to send this petition to the United Nations and the countries involved.
We wanted to check with you about this first because, naturally, what we do reflects upon Guyana.
We appreciate what you are doing to promote socialism in Guyana and other Third World countries.
Very respectfully,
/s/ Mike Prokes
Cde. Mike Prokes
Assistant-to-Cde. Jim Jones
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[Editor’s note: This letter also appears at BB-29-j-1 – j-2]
25 May 1978
From: Peoples Temple Agricultural Project
PO Box 893 Georgetown
To: Ministers of Government
Dear Comrade Minister:
As you are probably aware from previous correspondence, there is a small but vociferous element of Nazi-like thugs that has been attacking Guyana and our organization. They are press headline seekers, and they have held demonstrations to attract publicity. Recently, they even shoved a black woman, which was witnessed by an officer who warned them to straighten up or they would have to leave.
A man by the name of Timothy Stoen heads this bunch (Stoen was once a member of Peoples Temple – undoubtedly an agent-provocateur as he attempted to put our organization on a violent course). He hasn’t been able to get much attention in the press, particularly as of late. The last demonstration attracted no coverage to speak up. (It is the little papers – such as the Ukiah Daily Journal – which this type of element controls, and these papers don’t mean much.) It is not so popular to attack us anymore, since much of the punch has been lost.
One of the press owners – Rupert Murdoch – has aligned himself with reactionary forces in attacking all socialists. It is a return to McCarthy-type (“red-baiting”) politics. One group – Synanon, which is known and respected for its rehabilitative work – was not even socialist. But they were too progressive and they were closed down by the same type of reactionary force, working in league with a segment of the press. (We can provide other examples of socialists and progressives who have been victimized by press smears, if you are interested for any reason.)
We pose no political significance to them, other than that we were socialists and we were popular (something which evidently couldn’t be tolerated.) But the expressed attempt to destroy our organization has failed, though the attempt apparently continues. Recently our detractors issued a wordy statement filled with lies, distortions, innuendo, and hypocritical piousness. It was issued under the banner of “concerned relatives” and contained the signatures of a few dozen persons, most of whom have no relatives here. Among the persons who signed it are several known convicted criminals.
We filed thousands of signatures in support of our organization and against the insidious bigots who only could muster a meager 30 signatures. We sent copies of our support petition to the US State Department and the International Human Rights Commission. It was signed by our supporters from all over the Eastern, Midwestern, Southern, and Northern US. Should you be bothered with the outlandish document sent out by our detractors, we will have on file for anyone to see, copies of our petition (over 160 pages of signatures as well as telegrams of support and good wishes), statements of relatives of Jonestown residents (these are relatives who visited the project, all of whom loved it), and a point-by-point answer to the outrageous lies and falsities and against us, which are clearly exposed. (The ministries of Home Affairs and National Development have already been sent these materials.)
A friendly editor-reporter of one of the large newspapers in San Francisco, who is familiar with our work, told us that the true story will never get printed in the establishment press where we come from in California, because when a story climate is created, the press doesn’t want to change it. She said it would hurt the media’s reputation to reverse itself by printing the truth, after a false climate has been established. She said once the press has created an image of something, it is too arrogant to admit it errored in making that (false) image, even though one day they will be caught. This journal is called a reactionary conspiracy against us and said that if she were to print the truth about our good work, she would be fired. We would give her name, but we’re reluctant to spread it around, because if she is quoted, it could cost her job. However, we will provide it on an individual basis, if someone feels they need it for any good reason.
To paraphrase what many who have stood through the years for social justice have said – this is an insidious campaign to destroy a progressive organization that has been effective in helping many thousands of people in need of all kinds of assistance. We are an open book and have nothing to hide, and we will be happy to answer any questions that our friends and comrades may wish to ask. So please don’t hesitate if there is anything about our organization or work here in Guyana that you wish to clarify.
Thank you for your time and consideration of the issues that I’ve posed.
Cooperatively yours,
/s/ Mike Prokes
Cde. Mike Prokes
Associate Minister