Jonestown Massacre Site Opens to Controversial Tourism in Guyana

Nearly five decades after the Jonestown mass murder-suicide, the site in Guyana where over 900 Peoples Temple members died has opened as a tourist attraction through a $750 guided tour operated by Wanderlust Adventures GY. The tour includes a flight from Georgetown, a rugged van ride, and a visit to the clearing where the settlement once stood, marked now only by dense vegetation and a memorial plaque installed in 2009. The opening has sparked controversy, with survivors like John Cobb condemning the tours as exploitative, while the tour organizer Roselyn Sewcharran defends the effort as a way to educate the public about the dangers of manipulation and authoritarian control. Guyanese officials and residents are divided, some wishing to move past Jonestown's legacy, and others seeing confronting the past as unavoidable. The site joins a global trend of 'dark tourism,' similar to visits to places like Auschwitz, aiming to reflect on historical tragedies rather than sensationalize them. Critics, including survivor and politician Jackie Speier, argue that treating the site as a tourist attraction is inappropriate and disrespectful to victims.