THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 18 MAY 1966

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005968317
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: May 18, 1966

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A004500100001-6
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
18 MAY 1966
23
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DAILY BRIEF
18 MAY 1966
1. South Vietnam
Although open clashes have been
avoided in I Corps area, neither side
has made, or seems ready to make, any
concessions.
In Da Nang, government troops and
struggle forces are continuing to rein-
force their positions. Struggle forces,
including Vietnamese Army troops, still
hold the Tinh Hoi pagoda--the focal
point of the confrontation.
Some government officers are re-
portedly urging an all-out attack on the
pagoda, but Ky told Deputy Ambassador
Porter that he was opposed to this course
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Hue was"reasonably calm," but with
barricades on many streets. There have
been no reports suggesting an immediate
government move on the city. A strike
has shut down shops, markets, and public
transportation, but no anti-American ac-
tivity was observed. Tri Quang--who has
been counseling moderation among his
followers and was charming on Monday--
was somber, combative, ?and sometimes
little short of insulting in talking to
the US vice consul today.
General Thi, whose ouster as I Corps
commander precipitated the present troubles,
has agreed to meet Ky tomorrow in Chu Lai.
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2. SovietAJnion
3. France
4, Egypt
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5. Uganda
6. Guatemala
7. Communist China
Obote is still obviously worried that
his opposition might try to bring him
down. When parliament reconvened on Mon-
day, he made sure that soldiers with Sten
guns were in the courtyard and that his
jet trainers were flying overhead. Even
the public and the diplomatic corps have
been excluded from the sessions.
The police in the capital area have
been placed on stand-by alert until fur-
ther notice.
A guerrilla band identified as be-
longing to the Communist Party's action
arm killed 14 members of an army patrol
, yesterday in the mountains northeast of
Guatemala City. This is the largest
number of casualties that the guerrillas
have ever inflicted in a single action.
The incident took place in spite of the
state of siege which the government de-
creed last week.
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8. Nationalist China
The leaders of Nationalist China
now seem more pessimistic over the trend
of events in the Far East than at any
time since their defeat on the mainland
in 1949. This feeling has been brought
about by such things as the decline of
Nationalist military power relative to
that of Communist China, Peking nuclear
successes, and Nationalist defeats in
sporadic clashes with the Communists in
the Taiwan Strait.
On top of these factors, Chiang Kai-
shek and his advisers are thoroughly up-
set and dejected by the China policy dis-
cussiOns in the US. [
All of this would seem to indicate
that the Nationalists will be increas-
ingly difficult to deal with in the fu-
ture.
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