CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1952/05/14

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02020562
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: May 24, 2019
• Document Release Date: May 30, 2019
• Publication Date: May 14, 1952

Approved for Release: 2019/05/09 CO2020562
'Ns.' TOP
SECUR INFORMATION
'gore
14 May 1952
Copy No. 53
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
CI DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. Cl4AW3ED TO: IS S C
NEXT REV:EW AMI
AUTIth 70-246
DATEI_Vtgla PLVIEWER:
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP SECRET
SEC Th.TFORMATION
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SUMMARY
GENERAL
1. New Sino-Soviet trade procedures indicate further Orbit integration
(page 3).
FAR EAST
2. American Minister says French face basic decision in Indochina
(page 3).
3. Indonesia preparing to open embassy in Moscow (page 4).
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
4. Mossadeq turns down compromise proposal on oil issue (page 4).
EASTERN EUROPE
5. Czechs fail to carry out re-export plan in Argentina (page 5).
6, Czech President Gottwald not expected to recover (page 5).
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GENERAL
1. New Sino-Soviet trade procedures indicate further Orbit integration:
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letters of credit are not to be used after 1May
to arrange payments in trade transactions be-
tween the USSR and Communist China.,
In place of the letter of credit procedure, the
proposed system simply calls for billing of customers. The bill is to
be forwarded by registered air mail from the seller's bank to the customer's
bank. Penalties are provided for overdue payments.
Comment: This system is already used for
trade within the USSR and for Soviet trade with the East European Satellites.
Its extension to China would mark an advance in Moscow's program to
achieve the economic integration of that country within the Orbit.
FAR EAST
2, American Minister says French face basic decision in Indochina:
The American Minister in Saigon believes that 3.3(h)(2)
unless the French and the Vietnamese Govern-
ments now make a "supreme effort" to execute
a substantial reform program in Indochina, the
French will have to negotiate with the enemy, broaden Western support,
or continue the present stalemate.
Minister-Resident Letourneau, in order to
dispel Vietnamese distrust, is now prepared to bring into the government
nationalist elements with anti-French records. Furthermore, Paris is
willing to permit the French Union to evolve into something more like the
British Commonwealth. The American Minister points out, however,
that even if all French restraints were removed, no prospective Vietnamese
leadership could of itself produce results without constant United States
pressure.
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3. Indonesia preparing to open embassy in Moscow:
Indonesian Foreign Minister Mukarto told the
Foreign Affairs Section of Parliament that
preparations are under way for an exchange
of ambassadors between Indonesia and Soviet
Russia. In referring to the exchange, government officials have empha-
sized to American Embassy officers that all privileges, such as size of
mission and opportunities for travel, must be "strictly reciprocal."
Comment: The present government's decision
to exchange diplomats with Soviet Russia is a further indication of its in-
tention to return to a strict interpretation of Indonesia's "independent"
foreign policy. The former cabinet opposed having a Soviet embassy in
Djakarta.
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
4. Mossadeq turns down compromise proposal on oil issue:
Prime Minister Mossadeq has turned down a
new proposal to employ British technicians in
Iran's oil industry. When informed by the
American Ambassador on 11 May of a sug-
gestion that the International Bank might employ foreign technicians if
they carried United Nations passports, the Prime Minister said that Iran
was just as much opposed to Britishers carrying United Nations passports
as to those with British passports. He added that the Bank's insistence
on using British specialists had convinced him that Iran should try for the
present to operate its oil industry without foreign technicians.
Comment: The Ambassador's approach was
made at the direct request of National Front leader Hossein Makki, who
reportedly thought that Mossadeq might accept some British technicians
on this basis. Makki's request suggests a growing desire among top
National Front leaders to settle the oil dispute.
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EASTERN EUROPE
5. Czechs fail to carry out re-export plan in Argentina:
plans to re-export to tne
United States through Argentina be dropped if
they could not be carried out on the terms
originally prO edthe Ministry.
contacts were
extremely annoyed over the constant Ci� delays and the reduction of
the volume of trade originally estimated by the Czechs.
Comment: This is the first evidence of
serious difficulties for the Czech plan to re-enter the United States market
by exporting goods through third countries. Apparently only negligible
quantities of Czech goods have reached the United States, some shipped
in packets valued at less than one hundred dollars to eliminate the need
for consular invoices.
6. Czech President Gottwald not expected to recover:
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A leading Czech doctor has informed a Western3.3(h)(2)
diplomat that President Klement Gottwald con-
tracted a severe case of pneumonia after he
returned from East Germany in March and that
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nis recovery is improbable. His health has been seriously weakened by
sulfa treatments and a chronic liver condition. The source stated that
drugs were used to enable Gottwald to attend the Prague Liberation Day
ceremonies on 9 May.
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Comment: President Gottwald has not
participated actively in government affairs since before the first of the
year. At the military parade on 9 May he appeared weak and aged and
took no active part in the ceremony.
Gottwald's continued incapacity has already
lessened the ability of the government to push its industrial program.
His death or retirement would probably have no further weakening effect
on the government, nor mean a change in its present policies.
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