NOTE TO(Sanitized) FROM DCI

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01554R003300310042-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 13, 2004
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: December 11, 1978
• Content Type: NOTES

Approved For Rise 2005/01/13: CIA-RDP80BO1554RQW300310042-0
Tape 36
Side A, 1 1/3 - 1 1/2
11 December 1978
STAT NOTE FOR:
STAT I'd like to see
STAT
before I go on
leave for five minutes each just to say farewell and thanks before they
STAT P"4*.
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP80BO1554R003300310042-0
 Approved For RdI'diE'e SM114Ci'i'CIX-IR E(QB bbl*MOO42-0
Article appeared 7 December 1978
on page A-13
x-D,,-i
t Saw Early'-. Slo,%*hs o ones
Faranoia
By Jeremiah O'Leary
Washington Star Staff Wrl
A former- official at - the U.S.
'Embassy in, Georgetown said cult' l
,leader Jim.Jones was showing clear
signs of paranoia as early as Febru-
ary. x
- John D.. Blacken, deputy-. chief of
-mission- at the U.S. Embassy in
,Georgetown, from- July-1976- to last
March, .,,recalled that-. he flew "to
Jonestown - in. February with a State
`Department desk officer. .. ,
He said. one. of. Jones'; lieutenants,
Tim Carter, flew with them on the
--:visit to thew colony to investigate
several, reportsthat some residents
were being.held.againstaheir will-,_.,
"Knowing what I know now and
Treading reports that. Carter is..re-
;garded by-the Guyanese police_as a
material- witness in this .horror,".
Blacken.. said.-"I shudder as little-
about that particular trip to Jones,''
town
But Blacken'. '`now an -aide to U.N.
Ambassador Andrew Young, said he
and his companion were-well treated..
Jones, ; 'according to Blacken,
began to speak of how the-'FBr,and
the CIA were out to get him. Blacken
said he felt that Jones' condition was
one of paranoia.:.",-
"THAT'S'BECAUSE-I`knowof no
CIA interest in -Jones and his-colony;
After all,- they were out-there in the
jungle -as-'-Isolated. -as= could-.,be.eI.
couldn't imagine why---any--of the
intelligence ._ agencies..; would care'
what -Jones. and his group were;doinJ
in this `out-of=the-way, ..tylace:,;.;
CIA agents in :the past weresta=
tioned in ;Guyana under embassy;.
cover and probably st, I-are he:CIA
contigent..there. probably, is, small In
keeping with the ' relatively-mall- size
and remoteness of the_countcy;.Rich-
ard Welch; whop; was. -murdered~.two
years ago 1when, ,he, was.CIMstation
chief in Athens; was thi4CIA=station
chief in Georgetown in the mid-)960s ,
Prime Minister. Forbes,Burpham
said in a---recent interview, that he
never knew Welch had,been:the CIA
official in his capital until he'read so
after the - assassination. Burnham
said he neversuspected that a deputy
chief of mission would be an officer
of the CIA. ..._._ .. ;.. ..., :~,.. -P
B
LACKENAyplrB +'4dpFr fdC:
o~- -;
mission in,GuY?atna' or mucrt
tour there because the United' States'
did not appoint an ambassador to
Georgetown-for many months. Thus
Blacken was the ranking .U.S.-diplo-
mat there for much of the period that
Jones was expanding his colony after
establishing it in 1974..
Blacken said it was the embassy's
practice to-inform Jones-in - advance
of the persons they wanted to- talk
with so that they would be available..;
Jones-,.he said, permitted the'State
Department officials. to be alone.with
the. persons' they. came to 'Inquire
about,`but that most of the discussion
was conducted in the crowded assem-
bly hall: '
"Even though we were able to talk
alone-and face-to-face to the individu-
als:about whom. we had instructions
to check" Blacken,?said,."they.did
not tell us they, wanted to leave and
nobody slipped us any - notes as was
the. case with Rep. Leo Ryan, and his
party..,
"I : WAS UNDER:. the - impression
that the Jonestown people believe
Jones had an all-seeing eye and coul
tell what they were doing even- whe
he was not present..
" -
Blacken said the mail received'yb'?
the embassy in Georgetown abou
how Jones ran-his cult contained a
many favorable references 'as un
favorableones: F -~cx
"When I got to Jonestown, I. was
well received," Blacken said.' "No
one threatened: us. I explained tha
we were thereto' inquire into'com
plaints..-Jones seemed -to-~lr-eact. nor
mally to the embassy'.s,needto mak
such inquiries when I said that w
had. no authority to _ investigat
Americans living overseas: andwer
only there to make sure no one wa
being held against his will or that n
,violations of the-law were'.. .takin
place." ; x->- ?- y ?.~.: err:
Ambassador+John Burke: has.sai
about four embassy. visits were triad
there-in this calendar year-and'ther
was fairly constant contact between
the embassy and.-Jones' headquar
ters in Georgetown
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