WORLD NEIGHBORS REJECT CIA FUNDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600300025-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 26, 1999
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: May 27, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

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O-CL n ao.., :1~a'hiti' - Approved For Rele
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OPYRGHT fay Katherine latch / .
~zantzation headquartered in I ica and the Philippines.
t OL.iahoma City was offered Dr. Peters, a Methodic
(minister who was a philoso
f
unds by the Central Intelli-
gence Agency, it. was dis-
closed Friday.
But World Neighbors, Inc.,
15116 ? N Portland, turned
I down the offer which was
!made "several years" ago.
Disclosure of the offer -
-!and its rejection - was
made in an editorial in a cur-
rent issue of the World
Neighbor, newsletter.
Dr. John L. Peters, organi-
zer and president of the or-
ganization, wrote ,he edito-
rial, in the light of recent
revelations hat the CIA had
poured $12 million into 29
private organizations which
had international ties.
World .Neighbors, Inc., be-
gan in 1551 as a non-
I governmental, non-sectarian
!organization devoted to aid-
ing newly emerging nations
through cooperative self-
help project.s. It presently
vhzs mnr, than IN) nrne,mms
phy professor at Oklahomw
City University when a set'
mon sparked creation n
World Neighbors, explaine
the choice which was pro
sented:
"Should a forthright: under
taking such as the advance
mcnt of free world interest,
be supported by covert finan
cial assistance from th
CIA?"
The organization's rejec
tion of CIA help was not .
criticism of the CIA, he said
"Knowing how well the in
stitutions of freedom hay
served mankind, we ardentl
believed in their defense an
their extension. .
CPYRGHT
one.
"Our early success had
opened up opportunities to
serve in. many critical
' areas," he' said, some of
-then! already threatened by
11 "divasier and subversion.
' Tn find adequate imple-
meriting funds - from pri-
~ 'at.e sources and in sufficient.
; time - proved to be impossi-
ble.
''But funds were, we' dis-
,covered, available - for a
;price," he continued, refer-
ring to the CIA's offer.
. "And we were assured that.
!the mortgage. need never be
announced and might never
be foreclosed," he added,
meaning the CIA funds
would remain secret and the
government intelligence
agency might never call on
World Neighbors with a spe-
1
era request.,
avowal. Even so, there were times when we wondered if
we had not paid too high ~a
price for our autonomy."
Dr. Peters said "several
years" have passed sincei
.l
that. decision was made and
noted the possibility that
World Neighbors might be)
serving in more countriett
had the funds been accepted.
"But we had to make a
choice," he said.
"We felt: that freedom, to
be infectious, should not bed
compromised. Our decision
awaits the judgment of~
time."
The newsletter was sent to
30,000 donors to World Neigh-`
bors and to other worldwide
organizations, a spokesmani
said.
"Dr. Peters wanted our do-,
noes and persons in our over-'
t
We decided to reject the seas projects to know that;
!finds.offered, he said. "11 World Neighbors is just fi-1,
panced by people." he said.1
"Nor did we disesteem th
CIA in its rightful role." h
said. "In our kind of world
such an agency is a neces
sary instrumentality for tli
preservation of the nationa
interest.''
Dr. Peters observed, "It. i.
The editorial probably will
be reprinted in the organiza-
tion's overseas newsletter;
which has English and Span
ish editions totaling 11,000.
Dr. Peters was in Califor-
nia Friday on a series of
fund-raising appearances
and. was not available for'
comment.
In concluding the editorial,
he declared, "Neither direct-
ly nor indirectly hes any
agency of government made ii
contributions to, or demands
pon, our program."
;justify any means which pro
!vide for its accomplish
melt.
Recalling the beginning o
.World Neighbors as an "hon
est, spontaneous expression
,of concerned individuals fo
;1 heir neighbors in the so
c a I I e d 'underdevelope
areas,' " Dr. Peters noted
"We soon discovered that th '
task we had undertaken wa
far more onerous than w
had at first assumed.
"And as the full. dimen
sions of our self-imposed as
signment became apparent
A b
_Y.t itnatiine to secure adequat
?~itnds for a crucial and ur
gent: task.
And the grander the task
lihe greater the temptation t
our resources seeme o
Sanitiz di"-U~ t r ease: CIA-RDP75-0014980006.00300025-9
Se a .,ai:v
available, he said, and "th