CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6
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RIPPUB
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T
Document Page Count: 
13
Document Creation Date: 
December 15, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 8, 2003
Sequence Number: 
1
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Publication Date: 
September 7, 1968
Content Type: 
REPORT
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PDF icon CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6.pdf369.11 KB
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Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A01200034 DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE Central Intelligence Bulletin DIA and DOS review(s) completed. Secret 50 7 September 1968 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 25X1 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003/10MC P79T00975A012000100001-6 No. 0255/68 7 September 1968 Central Intelligence Bulletin 25X1 CONTENTS USSR-Czechoslovakia: Soviet envoy in Prague monitoring of normalization. (Page 1) Vietnam: Situation report. (Page 3) UN=Czechoslovakia: Several countries are seeking ways to keep the Czechoslovak issue alive at the UN. (Page 4) Communist China: Radical Red Guards are under in- creasingly heavy attack. (Page 5) Malaysia-PhilL22ines: Relations are worsening. Page 7 ) Sweden: National elections this month present a challenge to the Social Democrats. (Page 8) Approved For Release 2003/10,?E(P79T00975A012000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003rD FO:I 1 -RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 USSR-Czechoslovakia, A high-ranking Soviet of- ficial arrived in Prague yesterday, presumably to monitor the progress of Czechoslovakia's "normaliza- tion." According to a Western news service, Vasily Kuznetsov, Soviet First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and a CPSU central committee member, was sent as the Kremlin's envoy in response to a request by the Czechoslovaks. They were said to have asked for a Soviet emissary with authority to make polit- ical decisions about the implementation of measures which would permit the evacuation of troops. De- spite Prague's wish to expedite a withdrawal, it is highly unlikely that Moscow has delegated to Kuznetsov any such discretionary authority, Shortly after his arrival. Kuznetsov met with President Svoboda. According to Radio Czechoslovakia they had an "exchange of views and information," language suggesting disagreement over the course of Prague's efforts. The Soviet envoy's arrival in the Czechoslovak capital. came amid unconfirmed re- ports of a meeting of the Czechoslovak central com- mittee and evidence of Soviet impatience with the pace and extent of Prague's return to orthodoxy. Pravda on 6 September said that despite "se- rious successes" in the Czechoslovak economy, changes in "political. and public life" were "only in the initial stages" and that a "correct understanding" of normalization was still lacking. To achieve normalization, Prague was advised to expose and rout "right-wing antisocialist forces" completely, to end their influence on youth, and to strengthen the guiding role of the Communist Party in the en- tire life of the country.. A Bulgarian military paper reportedly stated yesterday that any expectations that troops of the Warsaw Pact will withdraw soon from Czechoslovakia 7 7 Sep 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 1 Approved For Release 2003/ ~( FRC ,PtRDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003/RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Care "unrealistic." The paper reportedly claimed that reactionaries and counterrevolutionaries desire a quick withdrawal so that, they can have "another swing at it." in still another apparent effort to accommodate the Soviets, two non-Communist political organiza- tions, the Club of Committed Non-Party People and K-231, an association of rehabilitated political prisoners, have been banned. The Ministry of Inte- rior ruled on 5 September that the former association has the "character of a political organization" and therefore cannot be accepted. The latter organiza- tion was described as "superfluous" because the Com- munist Party - dominated National Front will handle cases of people wrongly imprisoned. There has been no significant change in the disposition of occupying forces in Czechoslovakia. Preparations appear under way, however, for an air- lift of some Soviet troops; out of the Prague area. The US defense attache in his latest report from Prague stated that there now are an estimated 7,500 Soviet troops at the Prague airport. F7 25X1 7 Sep 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 2 Approved For Release 200 ( f1:FCI,IA-RDP79T00975AO12000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003/ cJDP79T00975AO12000100001-6 Vietnam: South Vietnam: The low level of enemy-initiated military activity throughout the country continues. Sharp and prolonged ground fighting occurred on 5 and 6 September at two points south and northwest of Saigon as a result of allied initiatives. In most of northern I Corps, severe weather conditions centered in the Da Nang area have sharply curtailed both allied and Communist military opera- tions. Heavy rains and high winds almost certainly will delay and may cancel some enemy offensive plans in the northern provinces. North Vietnam: The Communists are keeping up a steady stream of propaganda on the US elections and antiwar sentiment in the United States. The thrust of the message is that the recent nominating conventions proved nothing and that any US adminis- tration eventually will have to bow to those forces opposing the war and seek a political solution. The latest propaganda pitch along these lines in the North Vietnamese party paper on 6 September closely paralleled remarks in Premier Pham Van Dong's Na- tional Day speech and the Communist presentation at the Paris talks this week. 7 Sep 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 25X1 Approved For Release 2003/'I OCFA'DP79T00975A012000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003/' l DP79T00975A012000100001-6 UN-Czechoslovakia: Pressure to keep the Czech- oslovak issue alive at the UN now is focusing on the General Assembly. A number of members, including Canada, Britain, Brazil, Yugoslavia and Chile, are concerned that. the UN not appear paralyzed on the matter. Because the Czechoslovaks would presumably be under Soviet com- pulsion to repudiate a call for an emergency session or placing on the agenda of the regular session an item dealing specifically with the occupation, other means to deal with the issue are being considered. A Yugoslav representative at the UN has sug- gested inscription of an, item which, without naming Czechoslovakia, would provide an umbrella for dis- cussion of the situation. He noted that this in- direct approach must have the broadest support in- cluding nonaligned countries to avoid its being interpreted as a "cold . 7 Sep 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 25X1 Approved For Release 2003M]Rl-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003/1 1C1 -' DP79T00975A012000100001-6 Communist China: Radical Red Guards and other "revolutionary" organizations are under increasingly heavy attacks, apparently designed to eliminate them as forces capable of conducting Cultural Revolution. Local authorities in some areas are vigorously enforcing a new mandate for restoring order and are using it to destroy the Red Guard leadership and terrorize its rank and file. In many areas, those in authority now are military men who had been per- sistently attacked by radical Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. These former targets now may feel free to retaliate for the first time. First-hand reports from Dairen and Canton con- firm that the crackdown now is going considerably beyond the bland disciplinary measures called for in Peking's recent propaganda. Former Red Guards are being paraded, forced to carry signs labeling them "counterrevolutionary," and sometimes beaten and whipped in public. Reports from Canton suggest that at times a lynch atmosphere exists, in which "the masses" are incited to carry out executions themselves. In Canton, army troops. are usually ob- served to be supervising or participating in such acts of suppression. Many older students are being rounded up and given "job assignments" to mines currently operated by prisoners and to army-run farms. So-called "worker propaganda teams," led by army troops, have been formed in all major cities to occupy schools and subdue Red Guards. Individ- ual teams often have more than a thousand partici- pants. Propaganda statements stigmatizing students 7 Sep 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 5 Approved For Release 2003/TRDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003 MgR-1E1 -RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 in general as "bourgeois intellectuals" will prob- ably encourage these teams. The process of forming new provincial govern- ments, renewed in mid-August after two and a half months of inaction, was completed on 5 September with the announcement of new revolutionary committees in Tibet and Sinkiang. The new leaders are mostly old- line military men with a few party officials also included, as was the case with other recently formed provincial governments. 7 Sep 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 6 25X1 Approved For Release 200 1 fJt RDP79T00975AO12000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003/1&Yb.'G1 E-' DP79T00975A012000100001-6 Malaysia-Philippines: Relations between the two countries are again worsening. On 4 September, Kuala Lumpur sent a note to Manila warning, in effect, that a break in relations might result if President Marcos signs legislation on territorial seas which reserves the Philippine claim to Sabah. Marcos apparently will not act im- mediately, referring the bill to his Foreign Policy Council for consideration. He appears, however, to have little choice but to sign. If the bill does become law, the Philippine Government appears to hope that Malaysia will pro- test the section on Sabah when the document is de- posited with the UN Secretary General. This would open the way for the Philippines to bring the Sabah dispute before the UN, a step Malaysia has sought to avoid. 7 Sep 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 25X1 Approved For Release 2003/1 (I RI APP79T00975A012000100001-6 Approved For Release 2003/1 0~ t~RIk rP79T00975A012000100001-6 Sweden: The national elections on 15 September are expected to offer the non-Socialist parties their first real opportunity in recent years to challenge effectively the Social Democrats' decades-long con- trol of the government,. Early public opinion polls show the three non- Socialist opposition parties--the Liberals, Conserva- tives, and the Center--in a slight lead for control of the 233-seat lower chamber of the Riksdag. All signs now point to a close contest. On the far left, the small but vigorous Communist Party has enjoyed considerable success in cultivating an image of liberalism and :independence from Moscow, and appears to be making some inroads into the Social Democrats' traditional sources of support. The Czechoslovak crisis, however, has probably hurt the Communists despite their vehement attacks on Moscow. The Social Democrats, in power for some 35 years, have seen a small but steady erosion of their voter strength in recent years. This results largely from the lack of vital domestic issues and from the movement further to the left of young voters who believe that the party has run out of ideas. Prime Minister Erlander and the party leader- ship have sought to win the support of youth and the more radical. elements by focusing on foreign policy issues of little direct interest to Sweden. Foremost among these issues has been the US in- 7 Sep 68 Central Intelligence Bulletin 8 25X1 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 SECRET 25X6 Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Next 1 Page(s) In Document Exempt Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Secre2pproved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6 Secret Approved For Release 2003/10/01 : CIA-RDP79T00975A012000100001-6