At 6:00 pm local time on November 18, 1978, Guyana Prime Minister Forbes Burnham summoned American Ambassador John Burke to his office to inform him of a report of an \u201cincident\u201d at the small jungle airstrip at Port Kaituma in the Northwest District.<\/p>\n
Ninety minutes later, at 7:30 pm, the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown cabled the news to the State Department in Washington, adding details coming in \u201cas this is being dictated\u201d of unconfirmed reports that as many as nine or ten people had been shot to death. \u201cThis group includes Congressman Ryan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report was filled with errors made in the confusion of the moment:<\/p>\n
\u2022 There were nine defectors coming out with Ryan (actually, there were 16 people from Jonestown);<\/p>\n
\u2022 Five people were shot to death, rather than nine, although numerous others had been seriously wounded and could have been perceived as dead;<\/p>\n
\u2022 The gunmen, rather than being \u201ca truckload of white civilians,\u201d were soon identified as young men of both races.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
These were only the first of the hundreds of errors reported in subsequent cables, many of which eventually made it into the larger, permanent narrative of Jonestown.<\/p>\n
But the most important information of the moment was accurate: Leo Ryan was dead.<\/p>\n
Cable<\/strong>, Z 182330Z NOV 78\/ FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN 3774\/ TO SECSTATE WASHDC FLASH 8061.<\/p>\n
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