[Editor’s note: The State Department FOIA release of 1981 withheld portions of the last paragraph of this cable. They are 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/1978STATE307293_d.html.]
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STATE 307293
ORIGIN NODS-00
INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 /001 R
DRAFTED BY L/ARA:FARMSTRONG
APPROVED BY ARA:VPVAKY
L:MBFELDMAN (SUBS)
H:DBENNET
ARA:BGROVE
S/S-O:SVALERGA
——————023936 060229Z /62
O 060152Z DEC 78 ZFF6
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN IMMEDIATE
INFO WHITE HOUSE IMMEDIATE 1143
C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 307293
NODIS
E.O. 112065 GDS 12/5/84 (VAKY, VIRON P.)
TAGS: CGEN, CASC, OREP (RYAN, LEO), GY
SUBJECT: JONESTOWN TAPE
REF: (A) GEORGETOWN 4041; (B) GEORGETOWN 4106
1. (C-ENTIRE TEXT).
2. DEPARTMENT CONCURS IN MAKING AVAILABLE TO THE GUYANESE POLICE A COPY OF THE DWYER REPORT CONTAINED IN REFTEL (A).
3. WITH REGARD TO THE JONESTOWN TAPE, DEPARTMENT AGREES WITH RECOMMENDATION IN REFTEL (B) THAT GOG BE GIVEN A
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COPY AND NOT THE ORIGINAL AT THIS TIME, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE GOG WOULD BE GIVEN ACCESS TO THE ORIGINAL AS NEEDED. THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS ANXIOUS TO REVIEW THE TAPE BEFORE ITS EXISTENCE BECOMES A MATTER OF PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, AND WE WOULD ASK THE EMBASSY TO SEND A COPY OF THE TAPE TO WASHINGTON WITHOUT DELAY. OF COURSE, THIS SHOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE MOST SECURE MEANS AVAILABLE, PREFERABLY HANDCARRIED. WE ARE CONSIDERING THE MANNER IN WHICH THE EMBASSY’S RECOMMENDATION REGARDING THE HIRC CAN BEST BE CARRIED OUT. WE WOULD REITERATE THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE TAPE UNTIL WE HAVE ANALYZED ITS CONTENTS AND DETERMINED WHETHER SUCH DISCLOSURE WOULD PREJUDICE OUR ABILITY TO INTRODUCE IT AS EVIDENCE IN COURT.
VANCE [Secretary of State Cyrus Vance]
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