THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 15 APRIL 1967

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005973732
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: April 15, 1967

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005100220001-6
The President's Daily Brief
----Tep?fserrert? 15 April 1967
23
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DAILY BRIEF
15 APRIL 1967
1. Laos
2. Soviet Union
The Communists seem increasingly
concerned about the effect of our mili-
tary operations--particularly ?air
strikes--on their supply routes and
depots in Laos.
On Wednesday the Russians pro-
posed to the British a joint statement
by the two nations as co-chairmen of
the 1962 Geneva Conference condemning
US military activity in Laos. Ambassa-
dor Dobrynin followed up on the same
day with a demarche to Ambassador Kohler
here.
While both the proposed joint state-
ment and the demarche list a number of
US sins in Laos, they show a particular
sensitivity to air operations, including
B-52 raids.
Moscow may also be concerned at the
extent to which Souvanna is himself
eroding the tripartite structure of his
government. The right wing has just
about swallowed the neutralists. Some
Soviet pressure on Souvanna may well
follow these diplomatic moves.
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3. Soviet Union
4. Soviet Union -
India
One Yevgeny Pitovranov has re-
cently identified himself to Embassy
Moscow as one of the top men in the
Russian Chamber of Commerce. He has
had talks with the embassy counselors
for economic and cultural affairs,
and has expressed special interest in
developing international trade--an
area for which he claims special re-
sponsibility.
L. K. Jha, an aide close to Prime
Minister Gandhi, says that Moscow has
told the Indians that it is willing to
guarantee India and other neutralist
nations against both nuclear blackmail
and nuclear attack in connection with
a nonproliferation treaty. Jha was in
Moscow last week and is now in Washing-
ton.
Jha also says that the Russians
are "much more forthcoming" on security
assurances than earlier, and that
Gromyko told him the US and the Soviets
should issue separate but parallel
declarations on this when the treaty is
opened for signature.
Moscow's new position will surely
bring a big uproar from the Chinese,
but the Soviets no longer seem to care
about Peking's charges of US-Soviet
"collusion."
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5. Israel-Syria
6. Greece
7. Cuba
Tensions are high again. Israeli
troops are now positioned within the
Demilitarized Zone itself, and the
Syrians are claiming that even more
land there should be added to the dis-
puted category. United Nations ob-
servers are trying to cool things off
but are getting little cooperation from
either side. New incidents are expected
at any time.
General elections are set for
28 May following the dissolution of
parliament yesterday. Ex-premier
Papandreou has already said that the
monarchy will be the prime issue in the
campaign. If anything resembling a
Papandreou victory appears likely, the
King may encourage a right-wing dicta-
torship to block it.
This might work for the short run,
but the long-term effects would prob-
ably be disastrous. The various left-
ist elements would likely band together,
but this would only bring on fierce
counteraction from the right. Chaos--
favorable only to the Communists--might
well ensue.
Greece has been on the edge of this
precipice before, however, and has al-
ways managed to step back.
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Top Secret
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