{"id":78869,"date":"2018-05-01T15:30:45","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T22:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=78869"},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:48:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T23:48:05","slug":"serial-1699","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=78869","title":{"rendered":"Serial 1699"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Editor\u2019s note<\/strong>: This document was released both as a State Department cable<\/a><\/u> as part of its 1981 FOIA release, and as Serial 1699<\/a><\/u> of the FBI\u2019s RYMUR release. <\/p>\n

[The text for this document was released in 2014 by Wikileaks<\/a>. It is also available through the Internet Archive<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
\nPAGE 01 STATE 012047
\nORIGIN JUSE-00
\nINFO OCT-01 ARA-11 ISO-00 L-03 OCS-06 CA-01 FBIE-00 \/022 R <\/p>\n

DRAFTED BY JUSTICE DEPT.:M ABBELL:KC
\nAPPROVED BY ARA\/CAR:A HEWITT
\nARA:J BUSHNELL (SUBS)
\nARA\/CAR:R MCCOY
\nL\/T:L BAUMANN (SUBS)
\nCA\/OCS\/CCS:C PLACIDO (SUBS)
\nFBI:J INGRAM
\n——————098347 170251Z \/61 <\/p>\n

P 162049Z JAN 79
\nFM SECSTATE WASHDC
\nTO AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN PRIORITY
\nLIMITED OFFICIAL USE STATE 012047
\nE.O. 12065: N\/A
\nTAGS: OGEN, ORG, GY (PEOPLES TEMPLE)
\nSUBJECT: COPYING OF TAPE RECORDINGS AND DOCUMENTS OBTAINED FROM JONESTOWN <\/p>\n

1. Copying of four crates of tape recordings obtained by U.S. Consul from Jonestown should be completed by 2\/2. If questions arise in delays in copying these tapes it should be noted that: <\/p>\n

(A) Copying has been delayed because of significant deterioration of tape caused by hot, humid storage conditions at Jonestown which prevents originals from being copied at high-speed. <\/p>\n

LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
\nLIMITED OFFICIAL USE
\nPAGE 02 STATE 012047 <\/p>\n

(B) FBI has been able to significantly enhance quality of copies through technical processes. thus, copies are clearer than originals. <\/p>\n

(C) Further storage of original recordings in hot and\/or humid conditions could cause significant additional deterioration of original recordings. <\/p>\n

2. For the above reasons, we may ultimately wish to propose to GOG [Government of Guyana] that we store all original tape recordings at climate controlled facility in Washington area, provide the GOG with copies of all tapes for investigative use, and provide with originals of tapes as needed in connection with court proceedings in Guyana. <\/p>\n

3. FBI has reiterated its invitation to GOG to send a GOG police official to U.S. to work with FBI in connection with copying of seven crates of tape recordings now in possession of GOG. <\/p>\n

4. Please advise us as soon as possible of status of negotiations with GOG on above seven crates of tapes. <\/p>\n

5. Copying of documents has been delayed because of need to sort them by subject matter and to number each one prior to copying them. We have no firm estimate on when copying of documents will be completed. <\/p>\n

Vance [Cyrus Vance, Secretary of State]<\/p>\n

LIMITED OFFICIAL USE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor\u2019s note: This document was released both as a State Department cable as part of its 1981 FOIA release, and as Serial 1699 of the FBI\u2019s RYMUR release. [The text for this document was released in 2014 by Wikileaks. It is also available through the Internet Archive.] LIMITED OFFICIAL USE PAGE 01 STATE 012047 ORIGIN […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":78812,"menu_order":17,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-78869","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/78869","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=78869"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/78869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137406,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/78869\/revisions\/137406"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/78812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}