[Editor’s note: The text for this document was released in 2014 by the now-defunct Wikileaks website at https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1978STATE297692_d.html.]
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STATE 297692
ORIGIN PA-02
INFO OCT-01 ARA-15 ISO-00 /018 R DRAFTED BY PA:TRESTON:MAD APPROVED BY PA:TRESTON
——————060289 250230Z /61
R 242122Z NOV 78
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
UNCLAS STATE 297692
FOR AMBASSADOR BURKE
E.O. 11652: NA
TAGS. SOPN, GY (RESTON, JAMES JR.)
SUBJECT: VISIT OF JAMES RESTON, JR.
1. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY TOM RESTON WISHES TO INFORM AMBASSADOR BURKE THAT HIS BROTHER, JAMES RESTON, JR., WILL BE ARRIVING GEORGETOWN ON SATURDAY, 11/25, IN ORDER TO BEGIN RESEARCH FOR A BOOK ON PEOPLES TEMPLE COMMUNITY (PTC) AND THE INCIDENTS OF PAST WEEK.
2. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY RESTON WOULD PERSONALLY APPRECIATE ANY ASSISTANCE UHICH AMBASSADOR, DCM DWYER, AND CONSULAR STAFF OF AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN COULD RENDER TO JAMES RESTON, JR. RESTON HAS BEEN COMMISSIONED BY TIMES BOOKS TO WRITE A BOOK ON PTC, ITS ORIGINS, AND ITS GUYANESE DENOUEMENT. RESTON IS THE AUTHOR OF FIVE PREVIOUS BOOKS, AND DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY RESTON BELIEVES AMBASSADOR AND STAFF WILL FIND JAMES RESTON, JR. TO BE UNBIASED, THOUGHTFUL, SENSITIVE AND OBJECTIVE.
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3. WHILE DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY RESTON UNDERSTANDS STRAINED RESOURCES OF AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN IN THESE TRYING DAYS, HE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY EXTRA EFFORT WHICH AMBASSADOR BURKE AND HIS STAFF COULD MAKE IN THIS REGARD. RESTON EXTENDS HIS WARM PERSONAL REGARDS TO AMBASSADOR BURKE DURING WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN AND WHAT MUST CONTINUE TO BE A GHASTLY EXPERIENCE.
CHRISTOPHER [Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher]
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