THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 9 MARCH 1966

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005968194
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: March 9, 1966

' Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A004300380001-8
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
9 MARCH 1966
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004300380001-8
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DAILY BRIEF
9 MARCH 1966
1. South Vietnam
2. North Vietnam
Ky will likely try to get rid of
I Corps Commander General Thi tomorrow--
later tonight, Washington time. At a
meeting of the military directorate,
the prime minister plans to accuse the
general of insubordination and ask the
directorate to approve his removal.
Ambassador Lodge has warned Ky and
President Thieu of the risks involved in
such a move, but the two Vietnamese
leaders seem confident that Thi can be
replaced without trouble.
If Ky is correct in his belief that
most of the ten directorate members will
go along with him, then Thi's chances for
counteraction will be slim indeed. How-
ever, if Ky's optimism has led him to
overestimate his support, a permanent
split in the military could develop with
unpredictable consequences for the Ky
government.
Another question mark at this time
is what action Ky would or could take
if Thi ignores the meeting and stays at
home.
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3. India
4. Ghana
India has been arranging for new
military deliveries from the Soviet Union.
A high-level Indian Air Force mission
left for Moscow recently and the New
Delhi press reports that agreement has
been reached for Soviet delivery of some
40 helicopters.
The first major Soviet military de-
liveries to India since the fighting
with Pakistan began arriving last month.
Tanks, surface-to-air missile eqUipment,
military aircraft, and naval equipment
have been included in recent deliveries.
The value of military contracts with
the Soviet Union since 1960 now exceeds
? 8600 million, making India the largest
free world recipient of Soviet military
hardware after Egypt and Indonesia.
The new leaders are continuing to
dismantle Nkrumah's old power structure.
They have, for instance, abolished the
Communist-supported "Young Pioneers,"
Nkrumah's vehicle for indoctrinating
Ghana's youth. .The Ghanaian public is
still showing strong apprOval of the new
regime's actions.
5. Panama President Robles now seems pessi-
mistic over the canal treaty negotia-
tions with the US.(
This is a turnabout for Robles, who
had earlier been speaking as though he
felt the ultimate approval of a satis-
factory treaty would be the key point
in his career.
Robles is said also to feel that a
treaty will probably not now be ready
for signing until Panamanian politics
become embroiled with the 1968 national
elections.
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6. Guatemala
7. Belgium
The losers in Sunday's elections are
desperately seeking ways to prevent Julio
Cesar Mendez from becoming Guatemala's
next president./
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The anti-Mendez forces are obsessed
by fear that Mendez' moderately leftist
party will become the vehicle for a Com-
munist resurgence. This is conceivable
in Guatemala(
Most observers now concede that the
balloting on Sunday was generally free,
though there almost certainly had been
considerable coercion prior to the elec-
tions in some areas and some padding af-
terward in the vote counting. At last
report Mendez was ahead with about 44%
of the vote, compared to 33% for the gov-
ernment candidate and 23% for the candi-
date further to the right.
If the elections are allowed to
stand, therefore, the final selection
will have to go to the newly elected
congress when it meets in May. Mendez'
party is leading here too, and partial
returns indicate that it could win a
bare majority in the 55-man body.
Efforts to end the month-old po-
litical crisis are now turning to the
possibility of a Catholic-Liberal coa-
lition, eliminating the Socialists.
Such a solution would remove Socialist
Foreign Minister Spaak, long the source
of Belgian foreign policy initiatives.
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8. Soviet Union
There was a two-day standdown of
Soviet military aviation activity Mon-
day and Tuesday. This extended through-
out the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
and at first seemed highly unusual. It
now appears, however, that Tuesday was
a newly declared legal holiday, Interna-
tional Women's Day, and the normal day
of rest was moved from Sunday to Monday
to provide a two-day holiday. Normal
flying activity has resumed today.
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