MIDDLE EAST-AFRICA-SOUTH ASIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A002400020001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2004
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 18, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

Approved For Release 2004/08/17 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02400020001-4
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Confidential
Middle East -Africa -South Asia
Confidential
No. 0888/75
December 18, 1975
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MIDDLE EAST - AFRICA - SOUTH ASIA
Malagasy Republic: Referendum on Ratsiraka . . . 1
USSR-Angola: Soviets Acknowledge Aid to
Popular Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Dec 18, 1975
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Malagasy Republic
Referendum on Ratsiraka
President Didier Ratsiraka seems likely to
win a large, if unenthusiastic, vote of approval
for his leftist regime in a referendum to be held
on December 21. Malagasy voters will cast a single
ballot in which they will say "yes" or "no" to
Ratsiraka as president, to a new constitution, and
to Ratsiraka's blueprint for a sweeping socialist
revolution. An affirmative vote will formally
establish a second republic; the country has been
ruled by a series of miliary juntas since the ouster
in 1972 of the first post-independence government.
Ratsiraka heads a 9-man Supreme Revolutionary Council
that assumed power in June.
Many Malagasy support Ratsiraka's socialist
and nationalist goals but have reservations about
some of his specific policies and his authoritarian
approach. They see no alternative, however.
Ratsiraka's conservative opponents have been weakened
by the ban on political activity in effect since
1972, and they have been unable to mount a concerted
campaign in favor of a "no" vote. Ratsiraka, for
his part, has mobilized all the resources of the
government to support a "yes" vote. Committees have
been set up in the ministries to agitate for approval,
and cabinet members have been sent out to make speeches
throughout the country. The government-controlled
media are focusing heavily on the campaign.
Ratsiraka's political position over the next
few months may depend more on,how he deals with immediate
problems than on his success in winning the referendum.
He is under mounting criticism because of his govern-
ment's ineffectiveness in dealing with soaring prices,
unemployment, and food shortages. His revolutionary
program offers no ready solutions and in the short run
may cause further economic decline.
(Continued)
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Ratsiraka also faces a difficult battle in
imposing his socialist revolution on Malagasy
society. He lacks organized political support of
his own and owes his position mainly to his success-
ful maneuvering among the few miliary and gen-
darmerie officers who wield significant power. Most
Malagasy, passive and conservative by nature,
do not understand his revolutionary socialist ideology
and may resist the sacrifices and dislocations that
are likely to flow from his attempt to impose a
disciplined, centralized regime.
In the absence of a mass political organization,
Ratsiraka must rely on the bureaucracy and the armed
forces to carry out his program. Both were formed
originally by the French to serve a colonial admini-
stration, and neither is suited for implementing a
social revolution. Ratsiraka does not enjoy the
solid support of the Malagasy military, but for now
he does not appear to face a serious or concerted
threat from that quarter.
Dec 18, 1975
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USSR-Angola
Soviets Acknowledge Aid to Popular Movement
The Soviet central press has, for the first
time, indirectly admitted that both Moscow and
Havana are providing military support to the Popular
Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
Earlier this month, Pravda, in reporting on
a press conference held by President Nyerere in
Brussels, cited the Tanzanian President's statement
that he was "certain" the USSR was providing the
MPLA with the "necessary arms" for its struggle
against the "interventionists" from South Africa.
In an accompanying commentary, Pravda stated that
the Soviet Union, which stands "among the loyal
friends" of the Angolan people and which was one
of the first to welcome the birth of an independent
regime, "is providing help and support to Angola
during these difficult days."
Last weekend, moreover, the Soviet news agency
Tass took the unusual step of publicizing MPLA
leader Neto's expression of gratitude for Moscow's
"all-round help" to the Angolan people. At the same
time, Pravda provided the first hint seen thus far
in the Soviet press that Cuba is furnishing sub-
stantial assistance to the MPLA. The party daily
said that Cuba "always supported all national
liberation movements in Africa, including the MPLA--
the sole legitimate representative of the Angolan
people."
Moscow's decision to make public, even in an
unofficial way, its role in Angola follows some
recent military and diplomatic victories by the MPLA.
Dec 18, 1975
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Confidential
Confidential
Approved For Release 2004/08/17 : CIA-RDP79T00865AO02400020001-4