WILSON SKIRTS ISSUE OF CIA IN JAGAN FALL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000401410002-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2013
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: April 19, 1967
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

I Porte Pena v.:- I/
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release
NEWS
50-Yr 2013/12/20: CIA-RDP73-00475R000401410002-6
H.
E ? 682,834
? 917,360.
-APRI 9967.
By- KARL E. MEYER
L.A. Tirnes?Wachineton rest
News berries
LONDON ? Prime Minister
Harold, Wilson sidestepped
questions yesterday about any
possible role by the U.S,Cen-
tral Intelligence AgencylCIA)
in bringing down the left-wing
regime invBritish Guiana be-,
fore that British colony be-
came independent.
Wilson told Parliament the
present Labor government.
was not responsible for the
South American c o I on y in
1963, the year - in which the
CIA reportedly gave 'heavy
backing to a general strike
that crippled the regime of
then Prime Minister Cheddi
'
ArKs CI%
;t4 ?
Jagan. Wilson was elected in
1964.
"So far as Br:lisleadminis- :
tered territories now are con-
cerned," he said, "I know of
no activities of this kind, and
you can be pretty sure if there
were any I should (know)." ?
THE EFFECT of his re-
marks was to Iclave unchal-
lenged a story in the London
Sunday Times which gave
what it said was an account
of h o w the CIA allegedly
poured money into British
?Guiana, using Britiph and
American unions as "fronts."
'Left-wing laborites urged an
investigation of these charges,
but Wilson replied that the for-
mer colony independent
'I!ince May, 1966, :as Guyana-
-
"4"77.77.77-31
was self-governing and that
Britain had no responsibility.
It is deemed unlikely that
Guyana's present prime Min-
ister, Forbes Burnham, would
approve an investigation since
the ensuing controversy would
benefit his chief adversary,
"Jagan.
The Sunday Times article
alleged that the CIA had spent
more than $700,000 over a five-
year period to aid a union up-
rising which culminated in a
general strike that lasted 79
days in 1963.
ACCORDING to the paper,
the funds flowed to Guialia
through the Public Seri-ices
International (PSE) of London
and the U.S.Federation of
State, County 'and Municipal
i Employes. ? -
'---The PSI is an international
organization representing 3.5
million government workers
in 80 countries. ,
'In a statement yesterday,
PSI denied it had done any-
thing improper in sending
money to an affiliated union
on strike in British Guiana.
But the statement admitted
that the PSI affiliate in Amer-
ica, the Federation of State,
County and Municipal Em-
ployes, lad been a past bene-
ficiary of CIA largesse. .
On all sides, there is agree-
ment that the general strike
led Britain to change the colo-
ny's voting laws in a MAWS'
that favored the anti4agan
parties in a 1964 electio
npriassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/12/20: CIA-RD-P73-00475R000401410002-6