THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 2 DECEMBER 1966

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005968661
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: December 2, 1966

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004800390001-2
The President's Daily Brief
2 December 1966
2
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DAILY. BRIEF
2 DECEMBER.1966
South Vietnam
United Nations
.Cambodia is complaining about. Sai-
gon's efforts to control shipping on
the Mekong -River international waterway.
Since mid-November, Saigon has re-
quired that ships bound for:Phnom_Penh
via the Mekong must travel in convoy.
The resulting delays have.had a serious
effect on Cambodia's oil supplies: . The
South Vietnamese defense ministry is re-
luctant.to relax controls but is con-
sidering exempting oil tankers from the
convoy requirement.
-Cambodian officials?who-accuse
the US of inspiring the convoy:system
.to harass-Cambodia--have threatened to
take their complaint to.thelUnited Na-
tions. ,If :Cambodia really:starts feel-
ing-an economic :pinch from .these ship--
ping controls, ,Sihanouk is likely, to
make strong representations.
Similar controls imposed by Saigon
two years ago were ineffective.
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3. Canada Ottawa is about to take another
step toward recognizing Peking.
. Laos
5. Cuba
2,Dec 66
The Chinese
Communists will surely respond by de-
manding a Canadian break with Taipei.
The Canadians have rejected this in the
past, but may now feel the time has
come.
- Former neutralist leader Kong Le
is now in Djakarta, still loud and
bitter over what he thinks was US re-
sponsibility for his ouster last Octo-
ber. Ambassador Sullivan is convinced
that the real culprit in this affair is
a discredited French military officer
who was once Kong Le's adviser, but who
has since been expelled by the Laotian
Government and disavowed by his own com-
manding officer.
This Frenchman played effectively
on Kong.Le's weaknesses--he even went
so far as to prostitute-his own teen-
age daughter to the little general. Be-
fore his expulsion, the'Frenchman.was
able to persuade KOng Le that.it.was the
US which was behind pressures on him to
make military: improvements he had no
stomach for.
Havana has agreed to permit the de-
parture of US citizens who wit to get
out of Cuba. This came in response to
a Mexican approach to Havana and is sub-
ject to the condition that the Mexican
Government must handle all the details.
There are upwards of 900 US citi-
zens, with some 2,000 dependents, now in
Cuba. The Cuban offer presumably does
not apply to the 20 or so US citizens
still in Castro's jails.
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6. Soviet Union
7. India
8. Ecuador
Dec 66
Kosygin met the expected warm wel-
come when he arrived in Paris yesterday,
but the result of his nine-day visit is
generally expected to contain more sound
than substance.
An idea of one thing on Kosygin's
mind is revealed in the strong public
blast he made today against the new
West German Government. He seems out
to create the impression that any im-
provement in Franco-German relations at
this time would be at the cost of ?better
relations with thefl Sovet Union.
Mrs. Gandhi's political future
looks increasingly dim. One.of her
most powerful backers in theCcingress
Party :in-
tends to work actively against her re-
appointment as prime minister afterthe
February elections.
Other :important party, leaders have
likewise become antagonized over some
of; Mrs. Gandhi's recent actions. She
seems in fact to.have?lost whatever po-
litical touch she might once have' had.
Ambassador Bowles feels opponents in
her own party could succeed in dumping
her in February. .
.If they try, however, the big prob-
lem:will be to agree on .a successor.
The most prominent men in the running
have strong rivals who ,seem at this
point to cancel out one another.
'A new crisis is coming toa head.
Late press reports say the constituent
_assembly,voted today to strip the offi-
cers who headed the recent military junta
of their citizenship rights. TopEcuador-
ean officers have been watching the ,assem-
bly closely on this issue ,and have:hinted
that they would respond to such a:vote
with appropriate "countermeasures." Just
what this means is unclear, but could in-
clude dissolution of the assembly or even
a full military; takeover.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004800390001-2