Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — It has taken more than 30 years, but the government of Guyana has erected a memorial plaque at the site of the Jonestown cult massacre, a dark episode the South American country had long sought to downplay.
A simple, white stone plaque was unveiled with little fanfare Wednesday at the jungle clearing where more than 900 members of the cult led by the American preacher Jim Jones died in a night of mass murder and suicide on Nov. 18, 1978.
The government of Guyana had resisted creating a memorial, believing it would be a distasteful reminder of an incident that brought a grim fame to the impoverished and sparsely populated former British colony. But officials relented for this year’s anniversary of the event.
[...]
The plaque says only, “In memory of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy, November 18, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana.” It is about 25 minutes from Port Kaituna at the edge of the compound that the cult had officially named People’s Temple Agricultural Project.
[...more...]
- Source / Full Story: Guyana’s Jonestown suicide site gets plaque, AP via USA Today, Nov. 19, 2009 —
The Government Information Agency (GINA) reported yesterday that Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad who unveiled the plaque with the assistance of Charge d’ Affaires of the United States Embassy, Karen Williams, described the tragedy as cruelty to the highest extent and urged that people remember this event so that it will not be repeated.
A simple, white stone plaque was unveiled with little fanfare Wednesday at the jungle clearing where more than 900 members of the cult led by the American preacher Jim Jones died in a night of mass murder and suicide on Nov. 18, 1978.
The government of Guyana had resisted creating a memorial, believing it would be a distasteful reminder of an incident that brought a grim fame to the impoverished and sparsely populated former British colony. But officials relented for this year’s anniversary of the event.
[...]
The plaque says only, “In memory of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy, November 18, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana.” It is about 25 minutes from Port Kaituna at the edge of the compound that the cult had officially named People’s Temple Agricultural Project.
[...more...]
- Source / Full Story: Guyana’s Jonestown suicide site gets plaque, AP via USA Today, Nov. 19, 2009 —
The Government Information Agency (GINA) reported yesterday that Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad who unveiled the plaque with the assistance of Charge d’ Affaires of the United States Embassy, Karen Williams, described the tragedy as cruelty to the highest extent and urged that people remember this event so that it will not be repeated.
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