CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A014300040001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 5, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: August 7, 1969
• Content Type: REPORT

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Central Intelligence Bulletin
Secret
50
7 August 1969
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No. 0188/69
7 August 1969
Central Intelligence Bulletin
CONTENTS
Vietnam: Situation report. (Page 1)
Communist China: Peking has underscored its deter-
mination to end local disorders. (Page 2)
Cambodia: Sihanouk is having difficulty finding a
new prime minister. (Page 3)
Argentina: The government is increasingly concerned
about reports of unrest within the armed forces.
(Page 4)
Chile: An ongoing power struggle threatens to split
the Socialist Party. (Page 5)
USSR-Czechoslovakia: Anniversary preparations (Page 6)
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Italy: New government (Page 6)
Yugoslavia: Trade deficit up (Page 7)
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cAM
RANF7
SOUTH VIETNAM
95759 8-69-CIA
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C Vietnam:
South Vietnam: Military action throughout the
country on 6 August continued to reflect the low
level of fighting of the past two months.
The only significant contact with enemy forces
was made southeast of Tay Ninh city where allied
troops killed 35 Communist regulars while suffering
only a few casualties. On 7 August, the Communists
launched a rocket attack against the US base at Cam
Ranh Bay. Preliminary reports indicate that two
Americans were killed and 98 injured.
Since late June, the South Vietnamese Government
has received a considerable number of armed non-
Communist dissidents and guerrillas who have not
been under the discipline of the Communists. Some
of these bands have been operating in the Mekong
Delta for years.
The ralliers, numbering well over 1,000, repre-
sent a mixed ethnic and politico-religious sect.
Many claim to have been fighting the Communists for
years, but dared only to attack small Viet Cong units.
The group now hopes to be formed into a territorial
security force, and to continue to fight the enemy
in the delta.
7 Aug 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin
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Communist China: Prolonged factional fighting
in some provinces has prompted Peking to issue a new
directive underscoring its determination to end local
disorders.
A central committee directive dated 23 July
calls on factionalists to cease fighting and to sur-
render their firearms within one month or be treated
as "counterrevolutionaries."
this order is now being circulated
in the capital o Shansi Province, where "bitter armed
factional fighting" is taking place.
Shansi is among more than a dozen areas where
armed fighting has been reported since June. Even
though the level of disorder remains far below that
reached during the height of the Cultural Revolution,
it still poses serious obstacles to Peking's current
drive to restore political unity. The directive of
23 July, recent propaganda assailing provincial
"anarchism," and the appearance in Peking of top
leaders from some of the more troubled provinces all
suggest that efforts to untangle regional political
problems are being intensified. It is doubtful,
however, that these latest efforts will be any more
successful than previous attempts to end factional
fighting.
7 Aug 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin
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Cambodia: Chief of State Sihanouk is having
some difficulty in finding a new prime minister.
General Lon Nol's abrupt decision to withdraw
his pledge to form a government suggests that despite
protestations to the contrary, Sihanouk is still re-
luctant to delegate real authority. Lon Nol ran
afoul of Sihanouk during an earlier stint as prime
minister, and the general. presumably sought assurances
that this time he would enjoy a relatively free hand
in making certain administrative and policy changes.
Prince Norodom Kantol, a former prime minister
whose chief asset is his unquestioning loyalty, is
now trying to form a government. It is not clear
whether he is doing so at: Sihanouk's behest, however.
Although Kantol's malleability would be a plus factor,
Sihanouk also realizes that a Kantol government would
not provide the kind of leadership he claims Cambodia
needs to cove with mestic problems.
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Argentina: The Ongania government is increas-
ingly concerned about reports of unrest within the
armed forces.
On 5 August the government closed for an inde-
finite period Primera Plana, one of the most widely
circulated weekly news magazines in Latin America,
and confiscated its current edition. No official
explanation for the action was given, but the mag-
azine had recently published reports alleging mili-
tary dissatisfaction with the government. The ul-
tranationalist periodical Azul y Blanco and the or-
gan of the antigovernment bloc of unions within the
General Labor Confederation had been closed recently,
probably also because of reporting about military
unrest.
The cause of the government's increasing nerv-
ousness appears to be a series of events--not neces-
sarily related--that have occurred during the past
five months. These have included numerous terrorist
attacks, worker and student violence that has claimed
more than 20 lives, an abortive antigovernment plot
in Cordoba, and the arrest of three senior colonels
and forced retirement of an ultranationalist general
for fomenting discontent with the government. These
incidents have resulted in a measurable decline in
military confidence in the government.
un ess the administration moves rape y o
resolve socio-economic problems, further unrest is
likely. Troops would probably then have to be used
to quell the disturbances, and the wedge between the
military and the rest of the county would be driven
deeper.
7 Aug 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin 4
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Chile: The power struggle within the Socialist
Party threatens to split the party and end the pos-
sibility of a.leftist unity front in the presidential
,election next year.
The latest development--a decision that the can-
didate will be named by the central committee rather
than by the party congress--undercuts Senator Salva-
dor Allende, who has Communist backing for nomination
by the Communist-Socialist Popular Action Front. All-
ende has considerable grass-roots strength and would
probably draw support from a broad group of voters.
The central committee, however, would be likely to
name a candidate less committed to nonviolence, such
as the party's secretary general, Aniceto Rodriguez.
If Rodriguez is nominated, Allende may launch
his own candidacy,, possibly with the support of the
Communist Party, some dissident Socialists, and a
break-away group of leftist Christian Democrats. He
probably believes that such a maneuver could thwart
the efforts of Radomiro Tomic, the probable Christian
Democratic candidate, to gain support from rank-and-
file Socialists and Communists even though the lead-
ership of both parties has rebuffed his approaches.
7 Aug 69
Central Intelligence Bulletin 5
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USSR-Czechoslovakia: Soviet leaders are giving
priority attention to Czechoslovakia as the anniver-
sary of the invasion approaches. Czechoslovak party
chief Husak and President Svoboda have been meeting
with Soviet leaders in the USSR since last weekend.
The press blackout of their activities suggests that
major issues are being decided--including political
and security preparations for the anniversary and
possibly an official Czechoslovak justification of
the invasion. Yesterday, General Yepishev, the po-
litical chief of the Soviet armed forces, arrived in
Prague for "mutual consultations" with Czechoslovak
military leaders.
Italy: Premier Rumor's new minority Christian
Democratic government is expected to adopt the do-
mestic program of the preceding center-left govern-
ment. Foreign Minister Aldo Moro is likely to main-
tain Italian foreign policy along present lines. Po-
litical leaders plan to try to re-establish a center-
left government after public opinion is measured in
local elections, either late this year or next spring.
In the meantime, the inclusion of a broad spectrum of
Christian Democrats in the cabinet may give the party
more cohesion.
(continued)
7 Aug 69
Central Intelligence Bulletin
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Yugoslavia: Yugoslavia's
trade
deficit
for the
first seven months of
1969 has
almost
reached
the
total for all of 1968.
This deficit,
nearly
$450
million, is due primarily to the high level of im-
ports from convertible currency areas. Although in-
creased net earnings from tourism, transport, and
other services will partially offset the trade def-
icit, the current account deficit with convertible
currency areas probably still will exceed that of
1968.
Yugoslav officials want to avoid imposing fur-
ther import restrictions, which would run counter to
the economic reform now being implemented. Moreover,
Tito recently urged a prompt revision of foreign ex-
change regulations to encourage expansion of exports.
7 Aug 69 Central Intelligence Bulletin 7
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