CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1958/01/20

Document Type: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
03015198
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
U
Document Page Count: 
9
Document Creation Date: 
January 27, 2020
Document Release Date: 
January 30, 2020
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 20, 1958
File: 
Body: 
Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 4.07i �.W.�a �i - Nge LI 20 January 1958 Copy No. 137 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN r MENT NO. 1 NO CHANGE IN CLASS. I DECLASSIFIED CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS 02 to b NEXT REVIEW DATE: AU H: 0-2 FINVEr REVIEWER: p r Release:2 CT1/ 6-8/2L C015198'' Approved for R7eas"e721717/08/20 C03015198 11011% IS la "MEV_ Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 Aloe 20 JANUARY 1958 Zhukov may receive new appointment soon. USSR maneuvers against Baghdad Pact meeting. French intercept Yugoslav freighter with arms for North Africa. Declaration of Sumatran independence postponed. Venezuelan President moves to strengthen control. Guatemalan election results expected this afternoon. OTHER ITEMS Nasir wary of Egyptian-Syrian union. Finland to join Western economic groups. Moscow-Bonn trade talks to be resumed 80 January. French army tense over Tunisian incidents. - SECRET- Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 ' \\Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 \\\ \�`\\ `."�\ .1 VI! 1,0 ,11-41,..� 1.1-1 *le CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN 20 January 1958 DAILY BRIEF I. THE COMMUNIST BLOC Yugoslavia's carefully balanced position between East and West in its foreign relations may be jeopardized by the French interception off Oran of a Yugoslav freighter carry- ing 150 tons of arms which the French fear are destined for North African rebels. While France has not reacted strongly to previous shipments, in the light of present French sensi- tivity over North Africa this incident will tend to confirm re- cent French suspicions that Tito is swinging too far away from the West. The Soviet Union is encouraging Syria and Egypt to re- double their efforts against the Baghdad Pact meeting sched- uled to begin in Ankara on 27 January. The USSR urges that pressure be put on Iran and that Lebanon and another Arab state, presumably Jordan, be warned to stay away from the meeting. Marshal Zhukov has not been publicly identified since his removal from high party and government posts in late X October. Soviet officials have stated that he would receive a new military appointment upon completion of 90 days' leave of absence which is probably about to expire. II. ASIA-AFRICA Dissident regional leaders in Indonesia apparently have decided to postpone the declaration of an independent Suma- tran state but to continue to demand the formation of a new anti-Communist cabinet in Djakarta. The decision probably lApproved for Release: 2019/08/20 C0301519k �Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 resulted from the influence of moderate elements in Suma- tra, the advice of anti-Communist forces in Djakarta, and the central government's threats of economic and military counteraction. Meanwhile the 18 January Sukarno-Tito joint communique in Belgrade announcing agreement on arms purchases and increased economic relations will give the Diakarta government increased encouragement and prestige. Egyptian President Nasir appears basically wary of proposals for Syrian-Egyptian union, and seems to be set- ting difficult conditions in order to dampen Syrian enthusi- asm for the project. Pressures for union continue to mount, however, and there almost certainly will be additional pub- lic announcements that plans for union are being developed. (Page 1) III. THE WEST N \s LI Finland plans to join the European Payments Union within the next few days, and the Organization for European Economic Cooperation later this year. President Kekkonen believes Finland's only alternative to such ties is to become an economic satellite of the Soviet bloc, because of Finland's increasing internal economic difficulties and the growing drift of its foreign trade toward the bloc. (Page 2) West German-Soviet trade and repatriation talks will be resumed on 30 January, and are expected to last for two or three months. Bonn now has reason to believe that the USSR will shortly release some 75 German missile experts held in Sukhumi. These Germans probably have not had ac- cess to current Soviet missile development. French military reaction in Algiers to the recent Tuni- sian border incidents is such that civilian officials fear that even a minor incident could start the French Army across 20 Jan 58 DAILY BRIEF TOP SECRET lApproved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 - Aloe *11110 the frontier "with or without orders from Paris." Premier Gaillard faces a foreign policy debate in the National Assem- bly beginning 21 January. He is under heavy pressure from rightist deputies to break relations with Tunisia9 although the Foreign Ministry is playing down this possibility. Tunisian President Bourguiba's 18 January speech to the constituent assembly was restrained in tone. The circulation of antigovernment manifestos signed by prominent Venezuelans and a rumored oil workers' strike suggest mounting pressure on President Perez, with civil- ian groups probably attempting to coordinate their efforts with dissident military groups. Perez, in another effort to bolster his authority, has dismissed the new chief of the na- tional security police and has apparently considrecLreeallng the previous chief, Pedro Estrada, to Caracas. Firm indications of the outcome of the Guatemalan elec- tions will probably not be available before the afternoon of 20 January. Meanwhile, there have been no reports of violence. 20 Jan 58 N� N �11 lApproved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 DAILY BRIEF TOP SECRET 111 Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 Amie. *44�0 L THE COMMUNIST BLOC No back-up material. II. ASIA-AFRICA Syrian-Egyptian Union There are conflicting reports of Nasir's immediate reaction to proposals for Syrian-Egyptian union. Tasir told the Syrian mil- itary delegation he opposed union as not being in the interest of Syria, Egypt, or himself. Nasir allegedly denounced the political activity of the Syrian Army, Syrian Chief of Staff Bizri's "flirtation" with the Communists, and Syria's contin- uing open hostility toward the United States. In apparent contradiction, the Egyptian charge in Da- mascus said Nasir has agreed to union provided that the Syrian Army abstains from politics and Syria's political par- ties dissolve. The charge said "all Syrians who matter" had accepted these terms. Both reports indicate, however, that Nasir is basically wary, particularly of army factionalism and Communist influ- ence in Syria. He is using his strong bargaining position both to check the Syrian haste for union and to bid for more con- trol over the Syrian situation. Even if Syrian leaders should give lip service to his terms, they probably would not be able or willing to carry them out. The pressures Syrian politicians have generated nevertheless seem strong enough to bring about further public announcements that plans for union are being developed. -SECRET-- 20 Jan 58 CFNTRAI INTFI I IC;FNCF Rill I FTIN Page 1 Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 NOV III. THE WEST Finland Ready to Join EPU and OEEC Finland intends to join the European Payments Union "in the next few days," and to assign a permanent observer to the Organization for European Economic Cooperation to test Soviet reactions preparatory to joining later this year, according to a source close to President Kekkonen. The Finns can be expected to assure the USSR that these moves are taken on purely economic grounds and will not alter their policy of neutrality between East and West. The President believes Finland's only alternative to ties with these organizations is to become an economic satellite of the USSR; and, in the country's increasingly difficult economic situation, all political parties but the Communists concur in this view. During the first nine months of 1957 approximately 30 percent of Finland's to- tal trade was with the bloc, compared to approximately 25 percent for a similar period in 1956. In order to arrest the country's foreign exchange drain and growing unemployment, Finland devalued its currency by about 40 percent in September in the hope of stimulating production and exports, particularly in the important wood- working industries. Although inflationary pressures have eased, there is mounting criticism of the budgetary and mon- etary policies of the caretaker government which many critics charge threaten the country with a serious recession. SECRET 20 Jan 58 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 2 Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198 Approved for -elease72-019/0-8/26-003015198 *at, DISTRIBUTION THE PRESIDENT The Vice-President Executive Offices of the White House Special Assistant for National Security Affairs Scientific Adviser to the President Director of the Budget Office of Defense Mobilization Operations Coordinating Board Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities Special Assistant for Foreign Economic Policy The Treasury Department The Secretary of the Treasury The Department of State The Secretary of State The Under-Secretary of State The Counselor The Deputy Under-Secretary for Political Affairs The Deputy Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs The Deputy Under-Secretary for Administration Director of Intelligence and Research The Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense The Deputy Secretary of Defense The Secretary of the Army The Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Air Force The Chairman, The Joint Chiefs of Staff Commandant, United States Marine Corps The Director, The Joint Staff Chief of Staff, United States Army Chief of Naval Operations, United States Navy Chief of Staff, United States Air Force Assistant to Secretary of Defense for Special Operations Deputy Director for Intelligence, The Joint Staff Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Department of the Army Director of Naval Intelligence, Department of the Navy Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Department of the Air Force Supreme Allied Commander, Europe Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Federal Bureau of Investigation The Director Atomic Energy Commission The Chairman National Security Agency The Director National Indications Center The Director United States Information Agency The Director Approved for Release: 2019/08/20 C03015198