[Editor’s note: The last two paragraphs of this cable were deleted by the State Department in its 1981 release of documents under the national security exemption of the Freedom of Information Act. The material is 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/1976GEORGE02588_b.html. This URL may be available through the Wayback Machine.]
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GEORGE 02588 211829Z
ACTION ARA-10
INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 USIE-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 PM-04 H-01 INR-07 L-03 NSAE-00 NSC-05 PA-01 PRS-01 SP-02 SS-15 AID-05 SCA-01 ARAE-00 /056 W
——————— 083482 /42 P
R 211625Z DEC 76
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3913
AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN PRIORITY INFO
AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
C O N F I D E N T I A L GEORGETOWN 2588
DEPARTMENT PASS USIA/ILA
E.O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: SOPN, GY, US
SUBJECT: LOCAL PRESS COVERAGE OF DYMALLY PRESS CONFERENCE
REF: PORT OF SPAIN 3316
1. DEC. 20 EDITION AFTERNOON DAILY “CITIZEN” FRONT-PAGED CANA REPORT OF PRESS CONFERENCE HELD BY LT. GOV. MERVIN DYMALLY UPON HIS ARRIVAL IN PORT OF SPAIN DEC. 19. HEADLINE READ “SENATOR DYMALLY AGAINST INTERFERENCE BY CIA IN CARIBBEAN.” CANA ARTICLE QUOTED THE LT. GOV. AS SAYING HE WAS AGAINST INTERFERENCE BY CIA IN AFFAIRS OF CARIBBEAN GOVERNMENTS. CANA REPORTER EDITORIALIZED THAT COMMENTS CONCERNING CIA INVOLVEMENT IN THE CARIBBEAN WERE IN THE WAKE OF RECENT FEARS EXPRESSED BY JAMAICA AND GUYANA OF ALLEGED ATTEMPTS BY THE U.S. TO DESTABILIZE THEM IN REPRISAL FOR ESTABLISHING RELATIONS WITH CUBA.
2. DYMALLY WAS ALSO QUOTED AS SAYING THAT IF
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THERE WERE CIA AGENTS IN THE CARIBBEAN, THEY OUGHT TO RETURN VOLUNTARILY OR BE RECALLED BY USG. DYMALLY INDICATED THAT HE HELD SOME VERY STRONG VIEWS ON THAT SUBJECT AND ALSO THAT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAS NO BUSINESS INTERFERING IN THE AFFAIRS OF ANY NATION. THE LT. GOV. WAS ALSO QUOTED AS SAYING THAT “WE WERE TOO PARANOID ABOUT CUBA AND FIDEL CASTRO AND SHOULD RECOGNIZE THE EXISTENCE OF THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT. AS A RESULT OF THIS PARANOIA, WE SEEM TO HAVE A VERY NEGATIVE ATTITUDE TO ANY CARIBBEAN COVERNMENT [GOVERNMENT] WHICH HAS ANY RELATIONS WITH CUBA.”
3. ARTICLE ALSO CONTAINED STATMENTS [STATEMENTS] REPORTED REFTEL BY DR. WINSTON MURRAY ABOUT THE ALLEGED NUMBER OF CIA AGENTS IN THE POLICE FORCE OF GOTT [Government of Trinidad and Tobago] AND MENTIONED THE NON-COMMITTAL COMMENTS OF THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE IN REPLY TO THESE ALLEGATIONS.
4. CANA REPORT INCORRECTLY IDENTIFIED DYMALLY AS MEMBER OF THE U.S. SENATE IN ADDITION TO BEING LT. GOV. OF CALIFORNIA. REMAINDER OF ARTICLE DEALT PRIMARILY WITH DYMALLY’S ASSESSMENT OF CARTER VICTORY AND EMPHASIZING UNUSUAL SUPPORT CARTER RECEIVED FROM THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
5. COMMENT: FORTUNATELY ARTICLE DID NOT MENTION PENDING VISIT OF LT. GOV. TO GUYANA SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 27-29. HOWEVER, IF CORRECTLY REPORTED, THIS SENSATIONAL STATMENT BY REPUTEDLY PROMINENT BLACK U.S. POLITICIAN CONCERNING CIA INTERFERENCE IN THE CARIBBEAN IS VERY UNFORTUNATE AT THIS TIME. AS WE HAVE
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BEEN REPORTING WITHIN THE PAST MONTH, GOG HAS BEEN CONDUCTING AN INTENSIVE CAMPAIGN IN GUYANA STRESSING UNITY AND EMPHASIZING DANGERS OF DESTABILIZATION FROM CAPITALIST ENEMIES ABROAD PRESUMABLY THE UNITED STATES. SUCH STATEMENTS BY THE LT. GOV. WILL ONLY ADD CREDIBILITY TO SUCH ACCUSATIONS. WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT UPON LT. GOV’S ARRIVAL ON DECEMBER 27 MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFARIS WILL NOT ARRANGE A PRESS CONFERENCE. IN THIS CONNECTION, CHARGE HAS BEEN INFORMED BY CHIEF OF PROTOCOL AT MFA THAT DYMALLY WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY BISHOP JONES AND THREE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD SECT OF CALIFORNIA WHO OPERATE AN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNE AT MATTHEWS RIDGE IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. THEIR VISIT IS BEING COORDINATED BETWEEN LOCAL CHURCH GROUP AND HIGH-LEVEL OFFICIAL AT MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. WE HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING GREAT DIFFICULTY IN PINNING DOWN THE SCHEDULE OF THE LT. GOV. SO THAT POST CAN OFFER APPROPRIATE HOSPITALITY.
6. FOR PORT OF SPAIN. THIS ARTICLE EMPHASIZES IMPORTANCE EMBASSY URGE DISCRETION BY LT. GOV. WHILE IN GUYANA CONCERNING SUBJECT OF CIA AND DESTABILIZATION BECAUSE OF SENSITIVITY OF ISSUE AND PRESENT STATE OF STRAINED US-GOG RELATIONS.
MCCOY [Richard McCoy, Deputy Chief of Mission]
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