US diplomatic cables in 1973 on the launch of the Guyana National Service (GNS) expressed reservations about it being sustainable.
A cable on November 14, 1973 to the State Department by then Ambassador Spencer Matthews King noted that at a November 4 session of a special congress of the ruling PNC, Prime Minister Forbes Burnham announced further details of the recently proposed national service. The cable released by WikiLeaks said Burnham told delegates that there would be six
