THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 1 APRIL 1966

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005968235
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: April 1, 1966

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
1 APRIL 1966
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1
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DAILY BRIEF
1 APRIL 1966
1. South Vietnam
The political situation appears
to be rapidly worsening, and Ky may soon
have to take drastic action to try to
restore government authority, or make
major concessions to the Buddhists.
Anti-government agitation continues
unchecked in Hue and Da Nang, and today
demonstrations spread to Qui Nhon, Dalat,
and Pleiku (see map). The ?latter two
were clearly engineered by students
from Hue.
Law and order appeared non-existent
today when a mob of some 10,000 seized
General Chieu in Hue. Neither the
security forces nor police made any
attempt to protect him. In Dalat,
Vietnamese troops stood by and the
national police fled while a mob sacked
the radio station.
Agitators in Hue appear to be aware
of secret government plans to move forci-
bly in the city early next week. Our
consul there comments that, with the -
element of surprise lost, the government
now will have to act with great speed
and overwhelming force. Any half-baked
or piecemeal measures could be disastrous.
Ambassador Lodge told chief of
state Thieu today he could not conceive
of another week going by in Hue and Da
Nang under present conditions without
something happening to US troops.
? Even if the Ky government survives
the present conflict it will be seriously
weakened--either by compromise with the
Buddhists or from public resentment over
repressive measures.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1
RAILROADS IN
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1
2. Communist China
3. India
4. Ecuador
the important rail link between Kueiyang
and, Kunming in Southwest China has been
opened to limited traffic. (See Map)
The opening of this inland line
to through traffic will greatly improve
China's ability to move goods to North
Vietnam.
A new round of, violence in the
Calcutta area is likely to result from
leftist plans for a 24-hour general
strike next Wednesday. There are re-
ports that militant pro-Peking Indian
Communists are laying plans for a
direct confrontation with the police.
The country was relatively peace-
ful today, but leftist agitators may
only be pausing for breath.
A delegation headed by the leftist
rector of Cuenca University has gone
to Quito to demand that interim presi-
dent Yerovi yield to a triumvirate in
which he would be outvoted by two leftist
intellectuals. The country's volatile
students are said still to oppose Yerovi,
and they plan to convene a nationwide
student meeting next week to discuss
how to make this opposition felt.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004400160001-1
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5. France
6. Soviet Union
Opposition parties are beginning, .
to make a political issue of De Gaulle's
abrupt action toward NATO.
The Socialist Party has issued a
strong condemnatory statement and di-
rected its supporters in the National
Assembly to submit a motion of censure
during the session beginning today.
De Gaulle, of course, has more
than enough votes to defeat such a
motion. Opposition elements may hope
to pick off a few wavering Gaullists
by this gambit, but their principal
objective is probably to leave De Gaulle,
when the chips are down, with only the
Communists and the remaining Gaullists
standing with him.
The opposition will, however, have
trouble keeping public debate on the
subject alive; at least, the French
public has been relatively apathetic
on the issue thus far.
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7. Rhodesia
8; Guinea
The breakaway Smith regime seems
to lack real confidence despite its
success in withstanding Britain's pro-
gram of sanctions.
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Some Rhodesians 50X1
believe that pressures will be stepped
up now that Wilson has received a smash-
ing vote of confidence. They also are
concerned that the South Africans, after
their elections, may reduce their help
and press Smith to negotiate.
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Sekou Toure, who was going to re-
store Nkrumah a few short weeks ago,
is apparently growing more and more
fearful of his own skin.
Distrustful of his own armed forces,
Toure has publicly urged the masses to
take up their machetes and slit the throats
of all imperialists once a coup attempt
looks imminent. This has naturally un-
nerved the European and American com-
munity.
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Houphouet- 50X1
Boigny in nearby Ivory Coast has been
loudly encouraging Guinean exiles as
part of a psychological campaign against
Toure.
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