TRENDS IN COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R000300070004-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 25
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 7, 1999
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: January 23, 1974
• Content Type: REPORT

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Confidential
TRENDS
In Communist Propaganda
Confidential
Approved For Release 1999/09/25 CIA-RDP85T00875RW0 TX)01Wb4
(VOL. XXV, NO. 4)
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CONFIDENTIAL
This propaganda analysis report is based exclusively on material
carried lo foreign broadcast and press media. It is published
by V13IS without coordination with other U.S, Government
components.
STATSPEC
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthoriri-d disclosure siibi'ct to
criminal sanctions
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CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS
23 JANUARY 1974
CONTENTS
Moscow Reserved Toward Egypt-Israel Disengagement Accord . . . .
1
East Europe Welcomes Military Agreement as "First Step" . . .
6
ENERGY CRISIS
Moscow Still Cool to U.S. Oil Conference, Plays Up Distrust .
9
SINO-SOVIET RELATIONS
Foreign Ministry Protests Reflect Deter;irating Relations . . .
11
PRC-GVN
Peking Claims "Self-Defense" in Paracel Islands Clash . . . . .
14
INDOCHINA
DRV, PRG Issue Documents Marking Anniversary of Peace Accord .
16
Communists Reject GVN Proposal for Lunar New Year Cease-Fire . .
18
Cult of Brezhnev; World Party Conference;
U.S. ICBM Retargeting; NFLSV-PRG Delegation in Laos . . . . . .
19
Moscow, Peking Broadcast Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i
CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS
23 JANUARY 1974
A R A B - I S RAEL I CONFLI CT
MOSCOW RESERVED TOWARD EGYPT-ISRAEL DISENGAGEMENT ACC'?RD
Moscow has been correct but restrained is its treatment of the
Egyptian-Israeli military disengagement agreement and the
diplomatic activities leading up to it. While it tacitly
acknowledged the primacy of the U.S. role in these events by
reporting the agreement initially on the basis of the President's
announcement, it subsequently shifted to Arab sources for follow-up
reportage. Moscow's self-initiated comment on the agreement has
been minimal, although qualified official approval seemed to be
implied in Gromyko's reference to the agreement in his Yerevan
speech. In the meantime, Moscow has provided a skeletal account
of Secretary Kissinger's diplomatic activities, and it has reported
with obvious approval his remarks in a 22 January press conference
on the "constructive role" of the Soviet Union "at all stages" in
the negotiations.
KISSINGER'S While Soviet accounts of Secretary Kissinger's
"MEDIATION" activities have tended to be brief and factual,
an Arabic-language broadcast on the 19th did
credit him with "mediation" in preparing the text of the dis-
engagement agreement. IZVESTIYA reports on 17 and 18 January
gave Soviet readers a generally sympathetic picture of his role
in working out the agreement. Both accounts drew on Western
news agency and Cairo press reports to suggest the strenuous
nature of the Secretary's efforts. Thus IZVESTIYA on the 18th
reported that U.S. and Israel officials had created a special
working group to prepare a new draft plan after holding a
"strenuous" round of meetings. IZVESTIYA added that Kissinger's
contacts with Egyptian and Israeli leaders were entering a
decisive stage, and cited the Cairo AL-AKHBAR as saying the
Secretary would continue his trips to Egypt and Israel until
an accord was achieved.
TASS on the 19th, and PRAVDA the next day, carried a brief
report on the joint press conference held by Kissinger and
as-Sadat at the conclusion of their talks in Aswan. The account
reported that as-Sadat was questioned about the possibility of
resuming Egyptian-U.S. diplomatic relations, and that he had
replied that he would make no deci.:,ion without consulting other
Arab states which had broken relations with Washington. Secretary
Kissinger was quoted as declaring that the United States would
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CONFIDENTIAL F13IS TRENDS
23 JANUARY 1974
ta;...ke every effort to strengthen the cease-fire and to achieve
the establishment of peace between the Arabs and Israel. on the
basi.i of justice. Kissinger, the account added, concurred in
Presiuent as-Sadac's statement that Egyptian'-Israeli disengagement
must bc. followed by disengagement of Syrian and Israeli troops.
DISENGAGEMENT AGREEMENT Moscow first reported the announcement
of the agreement--which was released
simultaneously in Washington, Cairo and Jerusalem on 17 January--in
a TASS dispatch from Washington less than an hour after President:
Nixon h:-d appeared on television? Attributing the announcement
to the President, TASS provided the text, which stated that in
accordance with the decision of the Geneva conference, the
Governments of Egypt and Israel, with the assistance of the
Government of the United States, had reached agreement on the
disengagement and separation of their military forces. The
announcement further stated that the agreement would be signed
on 18 January by the Egyptian and Israeli chiefs of staff at
Kilometer 101 and that the UNEF commander had been invited to
witness the signing. 'PASS made no mention of the President's
accompanying statement.
Some 45 minutes later, Moscow's domestic and Arabic-language
services broadcast shorter versions, attributed to Cairo radio
and exci,ing the reference to the United States. Of the three
major Moscow -.,,-~pers, only the military organ, RED STAR, carried
the announcement in its issue of the 18th, printing the brief
version attributed to Cairo radio. PRAVDA and IZVESTIYA reported
the signing of the agreement at Kilometer 101 the following day.
TASS on the 19th ana PRAVDA the following day reported the MIDDLE
EAST NEWS AGENCY's version of the disengagement agreement signed
at Kilometer 101 on the 18th. MENA itself altered two points in
the second section of the agreement outlining the principles of
separation: Where the agreement specified that Egyptian and
Israeli zones would be limited in armament and forces, MENA
substituted the statement that the areas on both sides of the
UNEF forces w%uld be "considered security areas." TASS and
PRAVDA further truncated the entire second section, saying only
that the forces would be disengaged and UNEF forces would be
stationed between the Egyptian and Israeli lines. A TASS report
on the oigning ceremony, however, had noted on the 18th that
according to Western news agency accounts the agreement provided
for "some reduction" of Egyptian troop strength and armaments
on the east bank of the canal and for reduction of Israeli troops
and withdrawal of heavy arms from "advance positions."
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CON I?II)ENTIAL i711 1S TRENDS
23 JANUARY 1974
Gk()M` O SF'I;L-:CHl", ilil;h-IUV&I. Soviet r0iCLI011 to LI-c 11grectiienL
haa; bran confined to 1,etnarks by Gromylco in
a Yerevan specch on 19 January and a speech it it 22 January
luncheon for vialLing Egyptian iorvIgn Minister Fahnal.. According
to nvr11.1t ok! accoufIr:, In ne.(tlaer opecoh did lit! ment[on the United
States in co' ?aecL [t)1; wl th the M[dd le Emit HituaLion, It, Yerevan,
Gromyko ,laudc~.u the "1_1XcoptIonally n1ctlve 11nd btu Iicx;;l. role" of
the Soviet union 1.11 ubt;alning -1 crane-t.t.e and convening the
Geneva pence Conference, and he depicted the disengagement
+1grc?emenL aH a result of t:he Geneva tniks;. lie gave; qualified
;.approval o1' Hie agreement, declartug that It had "usltive
uign[ [once," and that It would pros,-- iiMe1;' is it sere followed
by a "radical. 9etl'1emc4nt."
In the speeC11 at the luncheon for 1'iiIiml , Gromyko paid tribute to
Soviet-Egyptian coordination and "concerted actions an r- large
;sate," implying that this "effective cooper;.at.ion" led to the
Geneva talks and "practical steps" to remove the tensiol'. In the
MiddLc Exist and, ultI mtely, to the di::;rangagcment agreement. lie
again urged that Lhh; ;agreement should be followed by other
steps aimed at solving "radical questions" on the basis of
Security Council resolutions. In both speeches Cromyko reiterated
that a settlement w;ts impossibly without Israeli withdrawal from
aII Iand:; ur,cupied In 19(17 and ipsurance of the Palcst,tniins'
icgIL[ma;te rights.
Meager Soviet follow-up comment on the agreement has crtlied it
only the first step toward Implementation of Security Council
Resolution 242 and has expressed reservations about Icracli
intention., suggesting that Tel Aviv would again try to "freeze"
the problem in the present stage and charging Israel with
continuing Its "armed provocations" while the agreement was in
preparation.
FAHMI IN MOSCOW Moscow has given little publicity to Egyptian
roreign Minister Fahmi's "official friendly"
visit to Moscow hevinning 21 January.* TASS'repurt on the
meeting between Gromyko and Fahmi on the day of his arrival said
* Fahmi's visit is the first to Moscow by a high-level Egyptian
official since the October wir. The last previous such visit was
by President as--Sadat's adviser Hafiz Isma'il in July; prior to
that, the then foreign minister, az-Zayyat, had visited Moscow
last May.
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CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS
23 JANUARY 1974
the discussions were h tv& 1A-RDP85T9 7?R,q99300070004-4
U.S. ICBM RETARGETING: Moscow has nut publicly reported
or commented on Defense Secretary Schlesinger's announcement,
at his 10 January press conference. that some U.S. lCB1I's
were being retargeted from Soviet cities to other
installations. An article in the 18 January IZVESTIYA by
Vikentiy Matveyev referred to the press conference but did
not discuss its substance. Indeed, Matveyev, criticizing
Schlesinger's assessment of Soviet: intentions in several
recent statements, indicated that his concern with the press
conference was "not a question of the content of Schlesinger's
speech" but rather its "allegories and hypotheses" about the
Soviet Union.
Moscow's East European allies have also limited their response,
with comment only by Czechoslovak and GDR media. Articles
in the Prague party daily RUDE PRAVO on 16 and 23 January were strongly
critical of the U.e. decision as a move toward lowering
the barriers to nuclear war through making provisions in
strategic planning for a limited nuclear strike. RUDE PRAVO's
commentator "P`l" on the 16th said that Schlesinger's announce-
ment was "an undisguised threat to the Soviet Union." A
GDR domestic radio commentary on the 14th also criticized
the decision, without giving any reasons.
NFLSV-PRG DELEGATION IN LAOS: The 13-16 January visit to
Sam Neua by 14FLSV-PRG leader. Nguyen Huu Tho and several other
officials was the first high-level visit ever made by an
NFLS'?PRG delegation to the territory controlled by the
Lao Patriotic Front (LPF), according to PATHET LAO NEWS AGENCY
reports. The visit followed trips late last year by North
Vietnamese party leader Le Duan and two Chinese Communist
Party Central Commit Lee members. the highest level represent-
atives of those countries knows. to have visited Sam Neua.
A joint statement issued on the 15th reported that talks
between the two sides "proceeded in an atmosphere of sincerity
and were filled with militant solidarity and fraternal
friendship," and that there was "complete unanimity on all
questions" discussed. Few details have been revealed on the
results of the talks, but the statement indicated that an
economic and cult:tral agreement had been signed and that the
South Vietnamese had agreed to apnoint a representative to
the LPF. Last August the LPF had sriit an official to South
Vietnam to submit credentials as tI `PF representative to the
PRG. The statement also noted the `,isfaction of both sides
with implementation of existing agreements: The PATHET LAO NEWS
AGENCY version of the statement vaguely cited agreements "on postal
cooperation and on the passage of goods and passengers," but the
NFLSV-PRG's clancl'stine Liberation Radio account mentioned "mutual
cooperation in the spheres of post and telecommunications and
A S m&xMaF Re4e> s1S99 99?25r5DIAdROPB,%TG0875 M0?;7?004-4
mail across the border."
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FBIS TRENDS
23 JANUARY 1974
- i -
APPENDIX
MOSCOW, PEKING BROADCAST STATISTICS 14 - 20 JANUARY 1974
Moscow (2726 items)
Peking (1050 items)
Lenin 50th Death
(--)
7%
Domestic Issues
(57%)
54%
Anniversary
Malagasy Foreign
(--)
6%
China
(8%)
6%
Minister in PRC
Middle East
(1%)
5%
Indochina
;9%)
5%
[Gromyko Meeting With
(--)
3%]
(Paracel Islands
(5%)
2%]
Egyptian Ambassador
Dispute
Upcoming Brezhnev
(2%)
49C
Korea
(4%)
5%
Visit to Cuba
PRC Expulsion of Soviet
(--)
2%
Attacks on Solzhenitsyn
(5%)
4%
Diplomats
These statistics are based on the volcecast commentary output of the Moscow and
Peking domestic and International radio services. The term "commentary" is used
to denote the lengthy item-radio talk, speech, press article or editorial, govern-
ment or party statement, or diplomatic note. Items of extensive reportage are
counted as commentaries.
Figures in parentheses indicate volume of comment during the preceding week.
Topics and events given major attention in terms of volume are not always
discussed in ,e body of the Trends. Some may have been covered in prior Issues;
in other cases the propaganda content may be routine or of minor significance.
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