Nearly half a century after the largest murder-suicide in modern human history, Guyana is planning to make Jonestown a tourist attraction.
According to CNN, it is the place in the rural interior of the South American country, Guyana, where American cult leader and mass murderer Rev. Jim Jones and his more than 900 followers died.
The shocking event took place in Jonestown, which is now covered with heavy plantations, and a government-backed tour operator wants to open for visitors. However, numerous people disagree with the idea and argue that the step would open old wounds, while others believe that it would be disrespectful to those who died.
The 67-year-old Jordan Vilchez, who grew up in California and was moved into the Peoples Temple commune at age 14 and was present in Guyana’s capital when the tragic incident happened, told The Associated Press that she has mixed feelings about the idea.
She recalled that she “missed dying by one day” when Jones ordered hundreds of his followers to drink a poisoned grape-flavoured drink that was given to children first. Her two sisters and two nephews were among the victims.
Vilchez said that the country has every right to get profit from any plans regarding Jonestown, but “then on the other hand, I just feel like any situation where people were manipulated into their deaths should be treated with respect.”
Moreover, a law professor at the University of Guyana, Neville Bissember, called the tour plan a “ghoulish and bizarre” idea and questioned, “What part of Guyana’s nature and culture is represented in a place where death by mass suicide and other atrocities and human rights violations were perpetuated against a submissive group of American citizens, which had nothing to do with Guyana nor Guyanese?”
Notably, despite all this backlash and criticism, the tour operator has strong support from the government’s Tourism Authority and Guyana’s Tourism and Hospitality Association.
