[Editor’s note: This document was released both as a State Department cable as part of its 1981 FOIA release, and as Serial 831 of the FBI’s RYMUR release. The State Department release withheld all names from this cable. The names of Temple members were released in RYMUR; the FBI’s agents names were released in 2015. All initially-withheld names are denoted in red type.
[The text for this document was released in 2014 by the now-defunct Wikileaks website at https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1978BRIDGE03507_d.html.]
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 01
BRIDGE 03507 040328Z
ACTION ARA-15
INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 FBIE-00 JUSE-00 L-03 SY-05 DODE-00
CIAE-00 INR-10 NSAE-00 SCS-06 CA-01 H-01 SSO-00
/042 W
——————004968 040720Z /15
R 292011Z NOV 78
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
INFO SECSTATE WASHDC 6830
AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 3507
E.O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: CASC, OREP (RYAN, LEO), TD, BB
SUBJ: PEOPLES’ TEMPLE MOVEMENT
REF: BRIDGETOWN 3455
1. [CLAUDIO] GONZALEZ AND [ANGELO F.] CLASS COMPLETED INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLES’ TEMPLE MEMBERS [CHARLES] TOUCHETTE AND [PHILIP] BLAKEY AFTERNOON OF NOVEMBER 28 AND DEPARTED FOR SAN JUAN MORNING OF NOVEMBER 29 ABOARD EA975 (11:04) AFTER HAVING PHOTOGRAPHED ALBATROSS III AT BERTH IN BRIDGETOWN.
2. TOUCHETTE PLANS TO REMAIN WITH SHIP DURING OFFLOADING IN BRIDGETOWN WHICH WILL TAKE AT LEAST WEEK BECAUSE OF PORT CONGESTION; HE WILL RETURN TO PORT OF SPAIN WITH VESSEL WHEN IT SAILS. BLAKEY’S PLANS ARE NOT DEFINITE BUT HIS PARENTS HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH HIM AND HAVE OFFERED TO BUY HIM TICKET HOME TO THE U.K. IF HE WISHES TO RETURN THERE.
ORTIZ [Frank Ortiz, U.S. Ambassador to Barbados]
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 BRIDGE 03507 040328Z
NOTE BY OC/T: TELEGRAM DELAYED IN TRANSMISSION.
CONFIDENTIAL