THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 16 MAY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976150
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: May 16, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
16 May 1968
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
16 MAY 1968
1. Vietnam
2. France
Ambassador Bui Diem, Saigon's spe-
cial representative in Paris, told
members of the US negotiating team that
he hopes "intermediaries" in the Viet-
namese exile community will put him in
touch with the North Vietnamese. He has
not yet had any such contact, he said.
His instructions permit him to meet the
North Vietnamese--if they approach him
first.
* * *
A series of enemy mortar attacks
and ground probes in South Vietnam's
Central Highlands yesterday may signal
the start of a Communist offensive in
the area.
The government has already gone
a long way in its effort to appease
the rebellious students. It may have
to go even further. The students ?and
the opposition in parliament continue
to demand the heads of the ministers
of education and interior. Premier
Pompidou is anxious to do all he can
to take the steam out of a censure mo-
tion scheduled for parliamentary, vote
early next week. We do not expect the
government to be voted down.
Signs of division are beginning
to show up among the antigovernment
forces. Some students and teachers,
for instance, suspect the labor unions
of exploiting the trouble for their own
purposes. Also, the Communist and
anarchistic flavor of recent demonstra-
tions may well erode the public support
which the students have had since the
start of the demonstrations.
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3. Czechoslovakia
4. Greece
5. Japan
Prague has again publicly re-
assured Moscow of its "permanent coop-
eration." 'Premier Cernik announced
that Soviet leaders had been invited
to Czechoslovakia, but that the visit
will not be in "the nearest future."
Cernik put it well when he re-
sponded to a newsman's question about
outside pressures on the new Czech
leaders. "It is polemics, not pres-
sure," he said. "Perhaps there will
be pressure later on, we do not know...
but we are going to go ahead and do
what we must, and we will see."
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6. Dominican Republic The US election campaign is al-
ready having an impact on Dominican
politics.)
7. Chile
The Dominican Revolutionary Party
is declaring that the end of the John-
son administration will inevitably
mean defeat of the "reactionary" Bala-
guer government, which it calls a
product of President Johnson's "policy
of force." Last week Juan Bosch's suc-
cessor as party leader publicly pro-
claimed his blessings to the "liberal"
?wing of the US Democratic Party--and
impartially to Vice President Humphrey
and Senators Kennedy and McCarthy.
The Communist Party joined with
the big Radical Party on Monday in a
declaration harshly attacking the be-
leaguered Frei government and calling
for unity of action by all "progres-
sives." The joint declaration is
clearly an early success for the Com-
munists in their effort to build a
"Popular Front" to contest the 1970
elections. The idea will appeal to
leftists in other parties, including
the President's.
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Top Secret
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
16
16 May 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
16 May. 1968
I. .NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Rice Prospects Poor: Bad weather and ineffi-
cient use of labor reduced acreage for the spring
crop. The May harvest will probably be about 200,000
tons below the prebombing average of 1.5 million tons.
The North Vietnamese harvest two rice crops annually--
one in October (the larger) and one in May.
* * *
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Chinese Aid Still Coming: Despite Peking's
clear displeasure over Hanoi's decision to talk
?with the US, there has been no noticeable reduction
in Chinese aid to North Vietnam.
The Chinese probably reason
that any efforts to coerce the North Vietnamese through
the aid program would only reduce Peking's influence
in Hanoi.
* * *
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Front Supports Poor: According to Western press
reports, the chairman a the Liberation Front has
cabled his support to the participants in the Poor
People's March. The cable noted that the campaign
constituted "an offensive against the ruling circles."
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Hanoi Plays up Presence of American Students:
In its English anguage in erna lona roa cas on
15 May, Hanoi announced that four American students
representing various elements of the antiwar move-
ment in the US had recently arrived in North Vietnam.
They were having meetings with officials involved in
student affairs. The broadcast provided little more
on the activities of the students other than to state
that they talked with Vietnamese students about the
peace movement in the US.
Statement by American Professor Broadcast by
Hanoi: In an English language transmission on 12
May, Hanoi broadcast a statement by Professor Robert
Greenblatt, who is currently in Hanoi along with
other American leftists. According to the broadcast,
Greenblatt voiced his praise and admiration for the
North Vietnamese and recounted in some detail the
antiwar activities that have taken place in the US
over the past several months. He concluded on the
note that the revolution in Vietnam is assisting
the progressive American people in conducting their
own revolution to achieve liberty and freedom.
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Top Secret
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