P.O. Box 15023
San Francisco, CA 94115
May 10, 1978
The “Concerned Relatives” is an elaborate hoax. The charges about our organization’s community all vicious lies in part of a right-wing McCarthy-like attack on Rev. Jim Jones and our congregation. We are here to expose what Tim Stoen, the main organizer and ringleader of these efforts, is really up to. He has been in contact with an aerial reconnaissance outfit and is secretly plotting with others in the group to actually land mercenaries on the project. We have definite evidence in hand and are investigating this further.
Another member of this group who is supposedly so “concerned” about “human rights” actually told was only yesterday that Tim Stoen could “drop things on the project and he might even be planning to do it”.
The group that is assembled here is staging this pseudo-event to cover up these outrageous plans to violate laws and commit criminal acts against innocent people. The high-sounding complaints about human rights violations are a subterfuge. If anyone is committing human rights, it is Tim Stoen and his lunatic outfit. The people called “Concerned Relatives” have actually tried to cut off are only outside source of medical assistance that has been life-saving.
Hundreds of people with relatives in Guyana maintain regular contact and are free to come and visit. And many have done so. In fact relatives who are not members of Peoples Temple are visiting on the project at this very moment. Residents of the community are free to come and go and a guest house is being built to accommodate visitors. Literally hundreds of visitors have come and been highly complimentary of what is being accomplished. For a long time we have been trying to explain that what the public is seeing is a deliberate front for a politically-motivated conspiracy to destroy the organization and Rev. Jones; they have attempted to cut off senior members’ old age pensions and Social Security; to ransack shipments of vital supplies; and now plan to send in mercenaries. These are just a few highlights of what is behind the smokescreen of lies and pious pronouncements of this conspiracy led by Mr. Stoen.
Recent visitors to the project have called it a utopia. The statement of a doctor who heads the medical network of nearly a thousand doctors was: “It’s mind-boggling to see how you have carved out of the jungle a community that looks just like one in the U.S. and with all the public utilities”. When the Foreign Minister of Guyana visited the project he called it a stunning example of cooperation and love. The Chairman of the Guyana Livestock Corporation [Peter Fernandes], a veterinarian who has traveled and studied in many countries, said: “The community is the purest form of cooperative living I have ever seen”. Dr. De Costa, a dentist from India, who founded a dental school which he heads in Guyana, said the health care is fantastic. As an example, he said he found only two cavities after examining eighty children. He said that is unheard of.
As many as 30 visitors, guests from Guyana and from around the world, visit the community everyday [every day]. All are impressed. The comment of one government Minister sums up the feelings of many: “A model village community to be emulated the world over”.
1. Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health, Guyana: “Impressive.”
2. Charge D’Affaires, new assistant to U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young: “I am impressed.”
3. Officer in Charge of Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago, U.S. Department of State: “Impressive work.”
4. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guyana: “Peace and love in action.”
5. Minister of Education, Guyana: “Very impressive.”
6. Regional Development Officer, North West Region, Guyana: “Very progressive.”
7. Chief Official in the Ministry of Education, Guyana: “Very much impressed with everything, thanks.”
8. Head Dental Instructor, University of Guyana: “Excellent community project.”
9. British High Commissioner in Guyana: “A most impressive start and I wish you all success.”
10. Chancellor of the University of Guyana: “Impressive.”
11. Minister of Agriculture, Guyana: “Very interesting, keep it up.”
12. Minister of Works and Transportation, Guyana: “Very impressed with progress since I visited one year ago.”
13. Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Works and Transportation: “A wonderful experience, a model village community to be emulated.”
14. Assistant Director General of National Service of Guyana: “Excellent.”
15. United States Consulate in Guyana: “A very pleasant day in a very pleasant atmosphere.”
16. A writer from one of the largest news agencies in the world: “It’s very, very impressive. Thank you for this opportunity and best wishes.”
17. Regional Minister, North West Region, Guyana: “Keep up the good work.”
18. Thirty-five teachers from the McKenzie District: “Fantastic, beyond one’s imagination, miraculous, beautiful, a true example of socialist living.” “Amazing, impressive.”
19. Head and one of the original founders of the Marco [MARCO] Medical Net: “Incredible, fantastic.”