THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 15 DECEMBER 1966

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005968684
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: December 15, 1966

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
The President's Daily Brief
15 December 1Q66
23
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
DAILY BRIEF
15 DECEMBER 1966
1. South Vietnam
2. Communist China
3. Soviet Union
The Constituent Assembly's plan
to have both a president and a prime
minister will give South Vietnam a
relatively strong chief executive, al-
though he would not be as powerful as
under a straight presidential system.
The president would be popularly elected
and would be able to hire and fire his
prime minister. The prime minister, in
turn, would be essentially an adminis-
trative executive charged with day-to-
day operation of the government.
Confusion, defiance, and anarchy
are spreading. No faction or individ-
ual has so far made significant gains,
but the conflict may be sharpening.
The situation is discussed in today's
Annex.
The first fragmentary Soviet broad-
casts on the 1967 budget point to a
moderate increase (about eight percent)
in explicit military appropriations
above the outlays planned for 1966.
Of course, the appropriations ex-
plicitly detailed for the defense es-
tablishment are not necessarily a reli-
able indicator of changing defense
policies or efforts. However, there is
other evidence that total Soviet mili-
tary outlays are, in fact, on the upswing.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001;7ux1
4. United Kingdom
5. Panama
15 Dec 66
Panamanian politicians, who enjoy
long political campaigns, are warming
up for the 1968 elections by pot-shot-
ting at the canal treaty negotiations.
The slow pace of negotiations is a con-
tinuing subject of opposition criticism,
and government leaders are increasingly
under the gun to defend themselves on
the issue. This pressure is sure to
grow; within three or four months the
1968 campaign will be in full swing.
Panama City newspapers, most of
which are owned or controlled by gov-
ernment officials, are playing heavily
on the negotiations. The object is to
portray administration leaders as taking
a new, vigilant, and forcefully patriotic
stance in relations with the US. One
paper, generally considered Robles' own
mouthpiece, went so far last week as to
question US good faith in the Canal talks.
The government is playing with fire
in stirring up popular emotions on issues
involving the US. There have already
been some "sovereignty" demonstrations
by extremist-led students and more can
be expected with the approach next month
of the anniversary of the disastrous
riots of 1964.
50X6
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001,-.Lxi
6. Venezuela
. Guinea
15 Dec 66
The military is continuing its
very thorough dragnet operation at the
university. Several hundred suspects
have so far been nabbed, apparently
including the leadership of the Commu-
nist Party apparatus on the campus.
, Weapons caches have also been seized.
Public reaction to the military occupa-
tion of the campus has not yet jelled,
though a few key civilian elements
seem .to approve.
An important question now is
whether the military will soon turn
back to civilian direction the exten-
sive control it has taken in the anti-
subversive drive.
President Sekou Toure came around
full circle yesterday and, in effect,
apologized to Ambassador McIlvaine for
the "extremely regrettable" events
which had soured relations with the US.
He blamed it all on "false information"
he had been given and said it would
never happen again.
This does not mean that Toure is
ready to abandon the recently concluded
aid agreements with Peking. It does
suggest that politically we are now
back to where we were in October--pro-
vided Guinean propagandists turn off
their anti-US campaign.
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
A NNE X
Communist China: Nation in Disarray
Confusion, defiance, and in some cases outright
anarchy are spreading through China as Peking's aging
leaders continue their struggle for ultimate power.
Crusading Red Guards in the provinces are meet-
ing stiff opposition from entrenched party bureau-
crats. Bloody clashes involving local workers and
Guards are reported from widely scattered parts of
China. In most cases, the local people seem to be
defending party officials from vigilante Guards sent
from Peking. In Chungking, a particularly nasty
melee left 17 dead and 240 injured.
Rival Red Guard units, representing different
factions in the top leadership, have fallen upon
each other
In another act of defiance, the crew of a mer-
chant vessel abandoned ship last Saturday to "carry
out the cultural revolution." The vessel's home
office was told it could send another crew if it
wanted to keep the ship in operation.
Disarray is nowhere more obvious than in Peking
itself. The omnipresent wall posters are calling
for the heads of chief of state Liu Shao-chi and
party secretary Teng Hsiao-ping. Yet both men con-
tinued to appear regularly with Mao Tse-tung--at
least through late November when he reportedly retired
to an East China villa for the winter. Senior party
men who have already fallen from grace continue to
be the targets of bitter criticism and a recent speech
by Madame Mao sent a band of Red Guards rushing to the
15 Dec 66
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
ANNEX (Cont'd)
home of Peking's former mayor, Peng Chen. Peng was
seized and Monday paraded before a huge crowd of
Guards for public vilification.
Liu Shao-chi and Teng,Hsiao-ping have been domi-
nant leaders in the party machinery for more than a
decade. Their dismissal and disgrace would knock
the main props from beneath the party apparatus and
clear the way for far-ranging moves against many
other local and national leaders whose careers have
been tied to the two men.
Mao's role in all this is unclear. He may be
personally managing a drawn-out and devious campaign
to remove real or fancied enemies in the party hier-
archy--or he may have done nothing more than give
general approval for a harsh, disorderly campaign
against entrenched party bureaucrats and then balked
at the extreme action demanded against Liu and Teng.
It is even conceivable that Mao has little to do
with the campaign, but is being used as a figure-
head by his heir apparent, Lin Piao.
At the moment, however, it does seem clear that
a powerful group in the politburo is determined to
keep the party machinery substantially intact. The
conflict may be sharpening, but neither side has yet
been able to muster the strength to move finally and
forcefully against the other. Until there is a vie-
tor, and absolute authority is once again established,
China seems destined to continue its drift toward
chaos.
15 Dec 66
-2-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7 -
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004900060001-7