THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 28 MAY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976170
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: May 28, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
--rarSrriagt.- 28 May 1968
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? THE PRESIDENT1S
DAILY BRIEF
28 MAY 1968
1. France
The old-line French organizations--
and these include the Communist Party
and the trade unions as well as the
Gaullist government--yesterday were re-
buffed again by the workers. Despite
strenuous efforts by the Communist
labor leaders in particular, the rank
and file rejected the concessions
granted over the weekend. In some
cases the union officials were hooted
off the platform when they tried to pre-
sent their case.
The Communist union is now demand-
ing even more concessions.r
Yesterday the Citroen Company,
which has always ?been hardnosed in its
labor relations, said it was asking the
courts to order the strikers out of its
plants. The workers are likely to re-
act by digging in deeper.
Yesterday's student demonstrations
avoided violence, but a US Embassy of-
ficer reports a pervasive feeling in
the Paris Latin Quarter that there will
be more trouble.
De Gaulle, who knows his old magic
is not working, is said to be full of
bitterness over these challenges at home
when his influence abroad is so high.
We understand he is wondering if he
should have called for a referendum.
Ambassador Shriver reports that
most of the French public has been high-
ly critical of the government, and par-
ticularly of De Gaulle. Only Pompidou
has emerged with his standing enhanced.
Shriver notes a surprising tolerance
for the current disruption. He finds,
in fact, that the youth and even a good
many of the middle-aged are exhilarated
by the fresh winds blowing through France.
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. France
3. Vietnam
In probing the heady and chaotic
world on the other side of the Paris
barricades,/
/Countless numbers of "action
committees" among the rebellious stu-
dents. Most of these small groups have
given themselves ideological labels,
such as anarchist, Maoist, Trotskyite,
Communist or rightist. In many cases,
more than one group claims a given
label. The two major Maoist groups,
for instance, are in conflict as much
with each other as with any of the
other groups. One group intriguingly
calls itself the "Freud - Che Guevara
Action Committee."
Until very recently there was no
organized effort that we know of to co-
ordinate the activities of these groups.
According to the latest reports, a shad-
owy "central committee" of some kind has
appeared at the Sorbonne. We know noth-
ing so far of its membership or the ex-
tent of its authority. The students
meet requests for such information with
great hostility.
Our embassy is now getting reports
that the students have established con-
tact with some of the younger workers.
The students are angry with the estab-
lished unions for stealing their thun-
der, but they apparently think they can
count on some support from contemporaries
in the labor movement.
Fighting in South Vietnam slackened
off somewhat after the sharp clashes
of the weekend. A new battle broke out
near Saigon, however, and the Communists
are geared up for more heavy combat in
both the western highlands and the north-
ern provinces.
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. Panama
5, Iraq
Vallarino yesterday prevented the
newly appointed head of the electoral
board, a Samudio man, from taking of-
fice. This apparently leaves the way
clear for the board to declare Arias'
victory.
Since Samudio has no chance as
long as the National Guard supports
Arias, his supporters May now try to
split the Guard. Important elements
in the Guard have long been bitterly
opposed to Arias, but we do not know
whether they would dare to move against
Vallarino.
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6. Cuba -
Soviet Union
7. Soviet Union
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Top Secret
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
16
28 May 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
28 May 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
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More Trainees to Poland: Two hundred more Viet.-
namese have arrived in Gdansk for training in the ship-
building industry, according to the 13 May Polish
press. The report also indicated that yet another
group would arrive soon to take part in the training
program, which is to last three to four years.
As of late last summer, there were some 2,000
North Vietnamese in Poland, about 75 percent of them
in industrial training programs and the rest in higher
education. Earlier this year, at least one group of
some 300 arrived for training itivarious Polish enter-
prises. .The total Vietnamese student and trainee com-
plement in Poland probably is around 2,500.
Propaganda on National Assembly: The North Viet-
namese continue to pat themselves on the back over the
recent session of the National Assembly. Hanoi press
and radio output in Vietnamese and English is rehash-
ng the Assembly's theme:."All for victory over the US
aggressors."
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:Infiltrators Not Welcome: Some of the peasants
in Thanh Hoa Province, North Vietnam, refused to
give water for cooking rice to soldiers on the way
South,
Troops
going South through the southern provinces, of North
Vietnam reportedly were billeted inlprivate homes and
were unpopular because of their thievery and miscon-
duct.
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing significant to report.
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