7 F e b r u a r y 196-4 -i M E M O R A N D U M FOR Mr W i l l i a m C B u rd et t O n 7 F e b r u a r y 196 4 we r e c e i v e d the f o l l o w i n g m e s s a g e a d d r e s s e d to you f rom the E m b a s s y in Lo nd on o i 1 In r e s p o n s e to your r eque st on 3 1 J a n u a r y for c o m m e n t s on the latest Briti sh t hi n k i n g on B ritish Guiana ' the f o 1 lowi ng tJL s our a s s e s s m e n t on c ur re nt HMG t h in k i n g O u r p r i n c i p a l c o n c l u s i o n is much the same as that r e p o r t e d to you on 12 D e c e m b e r 1963 Whil e HMG is p r o c e e d i n g with the m o d a l i t i e s for i m p l e m e n t i n g Sa ndys plan it h op es to a vo i d a s h o w d o w n wit h Jagan or at least p o s t p o n e it as long as p o s s i b l e The latest status r e p o r t on th es e m o d a l i t i e s was g i v e n in E M B T E L 3667 H MG w o u l d u n d o u b t e d l y m a i n t a i n that the c o m p l e x i t i e s of the matter as w e ll as broaderc o n s i d e r a t i o n s have m ade it i m p o s s i b l e or i n a d v i s a b l e to m ov e m o r e r ap id l y but it is perhaps s i g n i f i c a n t t hat three m o n t h s after the L on d o n C o n f e r e n c e the legal f o u n d a t i o n has not yet been c o m p l e t e d for any p o r t i o n of S a n d y s plan Piper c omme nt s not o nl y has Sandys been a lmost o v e r w h e l m e d by o t h e r p robl em s but that Sandys deli b e r a t e s i n t e r m i n a b l y over m i n o r d eta il s exce pt in fast m o v i n g crises We concur wit h t h e s e comm e n t s but w o n d e r if this b o t t l e n e c k is the m a j o r r e a s o n for the r e l a t i v e l y slow pace It seems more l ik el y that H MG ' s r e l u c t a n c e to force an e ar l y s h o w d o w n with Jagan has been h e i g h t e n e d by the f l u r r y of cr is es i n v ol v i n g f or m e r colonies Malyasia East Africa C ypr us it w o u l d be u n d e r s t a n d a b l e if HMG thinks its plate of such p r o b l e m s is full De s pi te A m b l e r Thomas d i s c l a i m e r E MB T E L 3069 the current s t r e t c h i n g of B ritish m i l i t a r y r e s o u r c e s may also c on tr i b u t e to their desir e to av oid a crisis in BG v 2 S e co n d factor of i n cr ea s i n g i m p o r t a n c e in HMG t hi nk i ng is Labor Party o p p o s i t i o n to S and ys plan As the e l e c t i o n draws closer it w o u l d be only natural for HMG to o 1 SANITIZED EO 13292 Sec 3 6 o o V N IJ 0 4 - 2 7 By_St_ NAfjtA DateH-b O S - S ' EY tS O S L Y ' a'j 2 t ry to a vo i d a c t i o n s on BG wh ic h the L ab o r P a r t y could 'o exploit H M G m a y not p r o j e c t this idea to the p o i n t of t h i n k i n g that BG is o n e p r o b l e m H M G w o u l d g l a d l y pass on to o a L a b o r g o v e r n m e n t but is is m o s t u n l i k e l y that H M G feels it is o b l i g a t e d to m o v e ahe ad so r a p i d l y as to p re v e n t any L a b o r g o v e r n m e n t from c h a n g i n g the course 3 We h a v e not se ns ed that H M G has b een t o y i n g with the idea that som e s o l u t i o n o th er than S a n d y s plan can be found P i p e r ' s c o n c e r n over G h a n a i a n a c t i v i t y was g e nu i n e but H M G a p p a r e n t l y d oubt s that much will r es u l t f rom r ec e n t IVi 1 1 i a m - B u s t a m e nt ' e-Barrows-Jagan meeting S an d ys plan thus remains b a s i c for H M G t hi nk in g and action even if s cena ri o has not yet bee n e x p a n d e d into full script e g T i m i n g of e l e c t i o n s a p p a r e n t l y still u n d e t e r m i n e d Perhaps-Hucks r e t u r n to BG to start e l ec t o r a l r e g i s t r a t i o n will bring the m a t t e r to head but if Jagan tries to avoi d a s ho wd ow n H M G is l i k e l y t o r e c i p r o c a t e U If this a s s e s s m e n t is c or rect it mi gh t be a d v i s a b l e to e x p l o r e f ur th er S e c r e t a r y R u s k 's s u g g e s t i o n to S a n d y s that the U S and O K look for some w a y other t ha n d i r e c t r ul e for coping with some of the p r o b l e m s d i r e c t rule w o u l d solve MEM CON sent wit h 20 Dec to Burdett We do not know how H M G w o u l d r e s p o n d to c o n c r e t e p r o p o s a l s al on g these lines a l th o ug h comments a b o v e o n a v o i d i n g a s h o w d o w n w it h Jagan w o u l d p r o b a b l y be r e l e v a n t 3 3 C O P Y LBJ LIBR A R Y LBJL NSF Intel Files Box 5 Folder British Guiana Special File This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu