{"id":95805,"date":"2020-03-03T10:38:37","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T18:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=95805"},"modified":"2026-04-12T16:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T23:30:19","slug":"nov-24-78-%e2%80%a2-2051-%e2%80%a2-georgetown-state-%e2%80%a2-3922","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=95805","title":{"rendered":"Nov 24, 78 \u2022 2051 \u2022 Georgetown-State \u2022 3922"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Editor\u2019s notes<\/strong>: This document was released both as a State Department cable<\/a><\/u> as part of its 1981 FOIA release, and as Serial 281<\/a><\/u> of the FBI\u2019s RYMUR release. <\/p>\n

[The State Department release included several deletions in this cable, which are denoted below in red type. In addition, the State Department release included only the first page of the cable. The missing text is indicated by blue type below.<\/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
\nGEORGE 03922 242121Z
\nACTION SCS-06
\nINFO OCT-01 ARA-11 ISO-00 CA-01 H-01 FBIE-00 DODE-00 CIAE-00 INR-10 NSAE-00 INRE-00 SSO-00 PPT-01 \/031 W
\n——————059922 242126Z \/41<\/p>\n

O 242051Z NOV 78
\nFM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
\nTO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8190
\nLIMITED OFFICIAL USE GEORGETOWN 3922<\/p>\n

E.O. 11652: N\/A
\nTAGS: CASC(PEOPLE’S TEMPLE)
\nSUBJECT: IDENTITY OF VESSELS BELONGING TO PEOPLE’S TEMPLE GROUP IN GUYANA<\/p>\n

1. EMBASSY LEARNED TODAY THAT WHAT ARE RUMORED TO BE TWO SHIPS BELONGING TO THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE GROUP IN GUYANA, THE “CUDJOE” AND THE “MARCELINE,” ARE ACTUALLY THE SAME SHIP. IT IS A 72 FOOT FISHING TRAWLER OFFICIALLY REGISTERED AS THE “CUDJOE”,” BUT PEOPLE’S TEMPLE MEMBERS CALLED IT THE “MARCELINE” AFTER THE REV. JIM JONES’ WIFE. APPARENTLY PEOPLE’S TEMPLE LOOKED INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF RE-REGISTERING THE SHIP UNDER THE NAME “MARCELINE” BUT DECIDED THE TROUBLE AND EXPENSE OF SUCH RE-REGISTRY MADE IT IMPRACTICAL.<\/p>\n

2. EMBASSY HAS LEARNED THAT PEOPLE’S TEMPLE HAS ONLY ONE OTHER SHIP, THE “ALBATROSS,” A 350 TON FREIGHTER, WHICH WAS IN TRINIDAD AT THE TIME OF THE MASS SUICIDE.<\/p>\n

3. EMBASSY WAS ADVISED THE ABOVE BY CLIFFORD ALLAN GIEG<\/span> WHO, TOGETHER WITH HERBERT NEWELL<\/span>, SAILED THE “CUDJOE” DOWN THE RIVER KAITUMA ON THE MORNING OF SATURDAY, 18 NOVEMBER. MORE ON THAT FOLLOW. THE INFORMATION WAS CONFIRMED BY TIM JONES<\/span> AND MICHAEL TOUCHETTE<\/span> OF THE PT GROUP BEING HELD AT THE LAMAHA HEADQUARTERS IN GEORGETOWN. TO THE BEST<\/p>\n

LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
\nLIMITED OFFICIAL USE
\nPAGE 02 GEORGE 03922 242121Z<\/p>\n

OF OUR KNOWLEDGE GIEG<\/span> HAS HAD NO CONTACT YET WITH THE LAMAHA GROUP, AND SINCE THE INFORMATION THAT WAS GIVEN SEPARATELY BY BOTH GROUPS IS IDENTICAL IT APPEARS ACCURATE.<\/p>\n

4. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH CONOFFS TODAY, GIEG<\/span> ADVISED US OF THE FOLLOWING: THAT HE AND NEWELL<\/span> WERE ORDERED BY AN UNNAMED ASSISTANT TO THE REV. JONES TO SAIL THE “CUDJOE” DOWN THE KAITUMA RIVER TO THE PORT OF MABARUMA, NEAR THE RIVER’S MOUTH. HE AND NEWELL SAILED FROM THE JONESTOWN AREA AT 8:30 IN THE MORNING ON SATURDAY, 18 NOV. THEY WERE NOT GIVEN ANY REASON FOR THE VOYAGE WHEN THEY RECEIVED THEIR ORDERS TO SAIL. GIEG<\/span> SAID THAT HE AND NEWELL<\/span> WERE THE ONLY PERSONS ON BOARD THE “CUDJOE” WHEN IT SAILED FROM JONESTOWN. GIEG<\/span> ALSO SAID THAT HE AND NEWELL<\/span> WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY BY GUYANESE AUTHORITIES SOME TIME AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL IN MABARUMA. THE EXACT DATE OF THEIR BEING TAKEN INTO CUSTODY IS NOT KNOWN AT THIS TIME.<\/p>\n

5. GUYANESE AUTHORITIES HAVE CONFIRMED THAT ONLY TWO PEOPLE’S TEMPLE MEMBERS WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY FROM THE “CUDJOE”. THEY DO NOT THINK THAT ANY OTHERS WERE ON BOARD. THEY ADVISE THAT THE “CUDJOE” IS CURRENTLY IN GEORGETOWN IN THE CUSTODY OF THE GUYANESE DEFENSE FORCE.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. GIEG AND NEWELL HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN LISTED ON OUR SURVIVOR’S LIST. THEIR ADDITION BRINGS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PT MEMBERS KNOWN TO BE ALIVE IN GUYANA TO 80. SEPARATE CABLE FOLLOWS ON NOK.<\/span><\/p>\n

BURKE<\/span><\/p>\n

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

[Editor\u2019s notes: This document was released both as a State Department cable as part of its 1981 FOIA release, and as Serial 281 of the FBI\u2019s RYMUR release. [The State Department release included several deletions in this cable, which are denoted below in red type. In addition, the State Department release included only the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":95378,"menu_order":206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-95805","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/95805","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=95805"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/95805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136227,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/95805\/revisions\/136227"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/95378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}