{"id":62445,"date":"2014-12-19T04:01:24","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T04:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=62445"},"modified":"2014-12-19T19:07:58","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T19:07:58","slug":"q767-summary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=62445","title":{"rendered":"Q767 Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

To read the Tape Transcript,\u00a0click here<\/a>. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1<\/a>, Pt. 2<\/a>).
\nTo return to the Tape Index,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

FBI Catalogue:<\/strong>\u00a0Jones Speaking<\/p>\n

FBI preliminary tape identification note:<\/strong> One Tracs 60\/ News April 20, 1978<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape:<\/strong> News items consistent with tape ID note<\/p>\n

People named:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Public figures\/National and international names:<\/em>
\nJimmy Carter, US president
\nGloria Carter Spann, sister of Jimmy Carter [by reference]
\nWilliam Carter Spann, nephew of Jimmy Carter [by reference]
\nCyrus Vance, US Secretary of State<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leonid Brezhnev, Communist Party General Secretary, Soviet Union
\nVladimir Terebilov, Minister of Justice of the Soviet Union
\nWinston Churchill, Member of Parliament, grandson of Winston Churchill
\nVal\u00e9ry Giscard d\u2019Estaing, president of France
\nBruno Kreisky, Chancellor of Austria
\nHelmut Schmidt, Chancellor of West Germany
\nAdolf Hitler, Fuhrer of Third Reich
\nAnt\u00f3nio de Oliveira Salazar, former Prime Minister of Portugal
\nFrancisco Franco, dictator of Spain
\nAldo Moro, former Prime Minister of Italy<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

William Eteki Mboumoa, Secretary General of Organization of African Unity
\nHafez Assad, Syrian President
\nSalim al-Hoss, Lebanon prime minister
\nAbdu al-Kassim Mohammed Ibraim [phonetic], Secretary General of Sudanese Socialist Union
\nSunao Sonoda, Japanese Foreign Minister<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vibert Mingo, Guyana Minister of Home Affairs<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Arnold Miller, UMWA President
\nGeorge Meany, head of AFL-CIO<\/div>\n

Bible verses cited:<\/strong> None<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jim Jones reads the news for April 20, 1978.<\/p>\n

While many of the newscasts from the period come from a variety of sources, this particular reading seems to be exclusively Soviet in nature. With a few exceptions, the stories feature news from the Soviet Union \u2013 including emphases on the arrival of official delegations from Libya, Sudan, Austria, and even the United States \u2013 or present world news as they affect the USSR, such as the news that the island of Cyprus is drifting away from US influence and into the Soviet orbit, that several communist governments have offered asylum to members of Italy\u2019s Red Brigade, and that the coverage of a march of Native Americans across the United States appears only in the Soviet media. In addition, Jones extols the communist nation in such detail at one point that it seems to be a script, although his pledge that Jonestown will demonstrate its pledge to stand with it \u201cin death or in life [as] a significant contribution to world liberation\u201d is likely his own. Finally, Jones repeats the phrase \u201cvanguard of world liberation\u201d several times to describe the Soviet Union, including at least once where he stumbles over the phrase, suggesting that it is in the text and not a spontaneous editorial observation.<\/p>\n

Other word choices \u2013 especially in describing the West \u2013 are more likely Jones\u2019. The US is consistently reactionary and fascist, and is ruled by monopoly capitalists. Its allies are equally evil and\/or are puppets of US militarism or Israeli Zionism.<\/p>\n

As he often does elsewhere, Jones presents object lessons from the news of the day for the Jonestown community. The Red Brigade\u2019s execution of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro \u2013 conducted after the Italian government refused to concede to a single demand made by the radical group \u2013 demonstrates that capitalists don\u2019t take care of each other the way people do in Jonestown. \u201cThere\u2019s no loyalty amongst thieves, and capitalists are thieves, so there\u2019s no loyalty at all among capitalists.\u201d At the same time, he does suggest that the Red Brigade\u2019s stated position of summoning an era of fascism as a necessary evil on the road to revolution \u201cis a little shaky position, in my mind, for personal commentary, in view of the thermonuclear war. But it is on the side of right,\u201d he adds, noting that the Soviets agree with the strategy.<\/p>\n

The specter of nuclear war returns later in the newscast. After describing the neutron bomb as \u201cdread, criminal, barbaric,\u201d he states that France\u2019s recent test of the weapon \u201cescalated another step in the nuclear madman\u2019s race that will undoubtedly lead to nuclear war.\u201d Jones\u2019 solution to the crisis is for everyone listening to his broadcast to \u201cproduce with absolute intensity, to get our people out of there. More people are coming in every day, but we\u2019ve got to get them out in mass numbers and free them before the hell breaks loose that is inevitable to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones offers another glimpse of his vision for the people of Jonestown. After reading an item about the effects of the moon upon the tides of the ocean as well as the human body \u2013 a subject he raised several times during Jonestown\u2019s final year \u2013 he notes that some of those effects are counterproductive. \u201cSome have thought hostilely of looking back,\u201d he says, then adds that they should suppress those thoughts, that they \u201cshould feel proud to be here\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201c[Q]uit being sullen and arrogant when you pass your leader,\u201d he continues, \u201cand try to hide it, quit forming close family accords and special alliances that we are taking note of, and unify yourself with the principle, and get your mind out of your self-pity and morass and paranoia, which is a class-consciousness enemy, narcissism, because when you are truly a zero, or trying to reach it, you don\u2019t worry about paranoia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other items in the news include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • The Lebanese government resigns;<\/li>\n
  • The World Peace Council \u2013 \u201cthat for years has been pro-Soviet\u201d \u2013 convenes in Athens;<\/li>\n
  • The Portuguese Communist Party votes against the formation of a coalition government;<\/li>\n
  • The negotiations for a United Mine Workers\u2019 contract stall, even after the strike ended in defeat;<\/li>\n
  • Israel produces a Roots<\/em>-like television series about the Holocaust.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    As with many of these news tapes, there is a feature-length piece near the end, this one discussing the negotiations between Japan and the USSR on a peace treaty. It shows the same pro-Soviet tilt as the rest of the tape, e.g.: \u201c[The treaty] has not yet been concluded, and not because of the falsely-intransigent position of the Soviet Union, but because of Japanese side has made the conclusion of a treaty conditional on utterly groundless, and therefore obviously unacceptable territorial claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

    There is a significant difference between the two sides of the tape, although it seems as if Jones is continuing with the same story from one side to the other. Whereas he is alert and his voice is steady on side one, it deteriorates markedly and precipitously on side two. He has long pauses during which he moans softly, he loses his way in the text, and several times, he announces the conclusion of the daily news briefing, only to resume reading another item.<\/p>\n

    FBI Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Date of transcription: 3\/29\/79<\/p>\n

    In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.<\/p>\n

    On March 19, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B62-84. This tape was found to contain the following:<\/p>\n

    This tape contains a recording of the afternoon news announcements made by JONES to the people of JONESTOWN. Subjects included elections in Syria, United Mine Workers contract dispute with Mine Owners and Japanese \u2013 Chinese relationships.<\/p>\n

    This tape was reviewed, and nothing was contained thereon which was considered to be of evidentiary nature or beneficial to the investigation of Congressman RYAN.<\/p>\n

    Differences with FBI Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The summary is accurate and meets the FBI\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you. To read the Tape Transcript,\u00a0click here. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1, Pt. 2). To return to the Tape Index,\u00a0click here. FBI Catalogue:\u00a0Jones Speaking FBI preliminary tape identification note: One Tracs 60\/ News April 20, 1978 Date […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-62445","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62445"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62480,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62445\/revisions\/62480"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}