CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/05/12

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03160451
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: May 12, 1957

pproved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
1-1.1-
z
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
3.3(h)(2)
12 May 1957
3.5(c)
Copy No.
DOCINEN1' NO.
4ANGE IN CLASS.
NO Ck
CLASS. 0 CI-IANG`EID 'TO: 'TS S C
IDECLASSIFISD
NEWT cIENIV4 DATE:
OileNtER
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
134
TOP SECRET fir#107/4
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
0Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Noe -11-4 I. -ILI 41111.'
CONTENTS
0 AGAIN CALLS FOR NUCLEAR TEST BAN
(page 3).
112. BONN DEFENSE MINISTER STICKS TO STRONG LINE ON
NUCLEAR ARMS (page 5).
. ISRAELI-SYRIAN BORDER TENSION DISCOUNTED
(page 6).
T)Iff: MOLLET GOVERNMENT
FORTHCOMING DEBATE
TO WEATHER
(page 7).
oN. COLOMBIAN MILITARY JUNTA ANNOUNCES ITS PROGRAM
(page 8).
A. BRITAIN TO BUILD LARGE FACTORY IN USSR
(page 9).
06. JAPANESE GOVERNMENT AND LABOR IN TEST OF
STRENGTH OVER ILLEGAL STRIKES
12 May 57
page 10).
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 2
-SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
'NNW
1. GROMYKO AGAIN CALLS FOR NUCLEAR TEST BAN
Comment onz
Foreign Minister Gromyko, in a speech
to the Supreme Soviet summarizing the
now familiar Soviet arguments for ban-
ning nuclear weapons tests, has re-em-
phasized the separability of the test ban
issue from other aspects of the current
London disarmament talks. Gromyko
said that it was premature to draw con-
clusions regarding the results of the cur-
rent negotiations. However, his flat state
ment that the Soviet government expects the US and UK to
achieve a rapprochement with the USSR on a nuclear test ban
emphasizes that the USSR considers agreement on this issue
a prerequisite for negotiating other agenda items. His fail-
ure to repeat the familiar Soviet demand for a "pledge" by
the great powers not to use nuclear weapons suggests that
this point may be negotiable.
Gromyko presented Soviet rebuttals to
Western arguments for test registration, the interrelation-
ship of test bans and nuclear disarmament, and the fallibility
of test detection systems. Gromyko stated that "there has not
been a single case when atomic or hydrogen bomb explosions
were not detected with the aid of scientific and technical de
eps
Gromyko's speech, one of the strongest
official Soviet statements on this issue, coincides With the com-
pletion of the latest series of Soviet nuclear tests, while new
US and UK testing programs are still pending. Throughout the
12 May 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 3
-SECRET
--
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
4.- .11-411-411,11-1.4
Nese
current London disarmament conferences, it has been evi-
dent that the Soviet position on nuclear test bans has been
aimed most immediately at obstructing the UK weapons de-
velopment program. The USSR also views a ban on nuclear
testing as a barrier to the development by "fniirfh nintries"
of a native nuclear weapons capability,
12 May 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 4
-SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
OICAA/ILW�
Nese
2. BONN DEFENSE MINISTER STICKS TO STRONG LINE
ON NUCLEAR ARMS
Comment on:
West German defense minister Strauss,
at a background press meeting on 6 May,
reportedly attacked Chancellor Adenauer
and Foreign Minister Brentano for lack-
ng tne courage to adopt a clear position in the current con-
troversy over nuclear armaments. Speaking in a vitriolic
manner to the correspondents,he charged that the recent re-
nunciation of atom arms work by 18 leading nuclear scien-
tists was arranged by the Soviet and East German governments.
Asked whether he agreed that under the
Paris agreements Bonn had renounced not only the manufac-
ture but also the use of atomic, bacteriological and chemical
weapons, Strauss flared up and called this interpretation "non-
sensical" and "defeatist:" He said that the present arrange-
ment, whereby the United States has the final decision on the
use of nuclear weapons available to NATO, was satisfactory as
long as NATO remains intact and pledges for assistance are
completely fulfilled. Should NATO disintegrate further, Strauss
added, then the European countries could together or individ-
ually build their own atomic bombs. He stated that in such a
case, Bonn would no longer be committed to refrain from pro-
duction.
Strauss reportedly had split with Adenauer
and Brentano on this question at a cabinet meeting
At the Bundestag debate on 10 May, in which Adenauer stressea
Bonn's efforts to bring about world-wide controlled disarmament
and called for a temporary suspension to nuclear bomb tests,
Strauss said it was not yet time to decide whether West Germany
should have atomic weapons. He also warned that the NATO de-
fense shield would collapse if West Germany refused to permit
the stationing of nuclear-equipped units on its territory.
12 May 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 5
-SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
ludt_attau
Now
3. ISRAELI-SYRIAN BORDER TENSION DISCOUNTED
Reference:
The American embassy in Tel Aviv feels
that local frictions are the cause of re-
cent Israeli and Syrian activities along
the armistice line. These include: in-.
creased Israeli engineering activity on the east bank of
Lake Hula; increased Israeli fishing activity in the north-
east shallows of Lake Tiberias; the Syrian resumption of
its former position overlooking Lake Tiberias; and Israeli
patrol activity due to spring training exercises and as a
response to the presence of Syrian units.
Israel's official reaction appears sim-
ilar to that noted in the past under comparable situations,
Although some Israeli officials have suggested Soviet and
Egyptian instigation of the Syrian activities, Ambassador
Lawson comments that the present Israeli attitude is in line
with Foreign Minister Meir's earlier statement that Israel
would not be provoked into violent reaction over trivial in-
cidents, but would not overlook any serious threat to its
security..
12 May 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 6
Approved for for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
��7111777-17[15.11LL V 1 1.ZILLi
vane
4. MOLLET GOVERNMENT SEEN LIKELY TO WEATHER
FORTHCOMING DEBATE
The American embassy in Paris expects
Premier Mollet to win National Assembly
support for increased taxes, despite gen-
eral opposition in the assembly to his
economic and tiscal policies. A confidence vote is expected
about 24 May. The lack of a practical alternative to Mollet
still restrains his opponents and thus favors the government's
chance of survival. A majority of the deputies approve his
Algerian and European integration policies, and would prob-
ably be reluctant to precipitate a crisis immediately prior to
President Coty's departure for the United States.
Comment Mollet won his last confidence vote on
29 March largely because his rightist op-
ponents were unwilling to cause a crisis at that time. There
has been considerable speculation that the right has been wait-
ing for an economic issue to launch an attack on the govern-
ment, with the intention of replacing Mollet by an interim,
short-lived cabinet which would in turn give way to a govern-
ment headed by a conservative premier.
12 May 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page?
-CONFIDENTIAL
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
A. ALP' .1EJ_L � A. .1.-C-1.1-4
5. COLOMBIAN MILITARY JUNTA ANNOUNCES
ITS PROGRAM
Comment on:
The five-man milifa,ty junta, hAded by
the former war minister, which exiled
and replaced president Rojas on 10 May,
announced a fourteen-point program late
the same day after conferring with the
opposition. It calls for the junta to rule
until the end of the current presidential
term in August 1958; popular elections
in 1958; a cabinet with the participation
of the traditional Liberal and Conservative parties; and
restoration of freedom of the press.
Key opposition leaders, including the
joint presidential candidate of the two major parties, urged
the people to support the program and the junta. In addition,
the cardinal primate apparently gave Catholic Church en-
dorsement to the interim regime and appealed to the nation
for restraint.
Civilian participation in the junta may be
essential to the restoration and maintenance of order. Some
popular demand for immediate return to civilian government
was voiced in Bogota and particularly in Cali.
12 May 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 8
CONFIDENTIAL
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
N A A A.Jr JR. JL.4 JI-111-1
NNW
6. BRITAIN TO BUILD LARGE FACTORY IN USSR
The USSR has placed a contract with a
consortium of five British firms for con-
struction of a tire plant in the Ukraine,
according to the American embassy in
London. Details are still unknown, al-
though reports in the British press described the proposed
plant as "larger than any tire factory outside the United
States."
Comment This is the most substantial result to date
of the trade offers made by Bulganin and
Khrushchev during their visit to the UK in April 1956. Its im-
plementation would mark the first time in more than 20 years
that the USSR has permitted construction under foreign super-
vision within its borders. Such a departure from past policies
suggest the beginning of a new stage in the USSR's program to
profit from specific Western technical capabilities.
12 May 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 9
_CONFIDENT-Mt-
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451
-ISITAP.-7-1/77M7YL /29
Nome
7. JAPANESE GOVERNMENT AND LABOR IN TEST OF
STRENGTH OVER ILLEGAL STRIKES
Comment on:
More than 1,0009000 public enterprise
workers in Japan participated in a series
of walkouts and shop rallies on 11 and
12 May. The nationwide walkouts are in
retaliation for government action in firing, suspending or
otherwise punishing some 1,000 government union leaders
responsible for illegal activities during the recent spring
labor offensive for higher wages. The basic issue at stake
is the ability of the Kishi government to restrict labor ac-
tivities to legal limits. Japanese law denies public corpora-
tion employees the right to strike.
The disruptions were led by the National
Railway Workers Union and supported by postal, telecommu-
nications and other public workers unions, which are under
the strong influence of Sohyo, Japan's 3,000,000-strong
leftist labor federation. The Socialist Party has endorsed
the labor action and reportedly plans to introduce a no
confidence motion against the government during Diet delib-
erations this week.
Business, the press, and the general
public welcomed the government's punitive measures. Con-
tinued support from these quarters may result in even bolder
government action, including new legislation to curb Sohyo's
power.
12 May 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 10
-CONFIDENTIAL
Approved for Release: 2019/12/04 C03160451