THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 16 JANUARY 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976565
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: January 16, 1969

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The President's Daily Brief
et 16 January 1969
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THE PRESIDENT'S.
DAILY BRIEF
16 JANUARY 1969
Soviet Union
.LATE ITEM
The two Soviet manned spacecraft
completed a successful docking opera-
tion shortly after 3:00 AM today.
There is as yet no word that crewmen
have moved from one capsule to the
other.
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
16 JANUARY 1969
1, Israel
2, West Europe
American and other Western.atta-
ches report finding no signs of an
..Israeli buildup for a major military
strike. This is the result of air
reconnaissance yesterday and attache
visits on the ground throughout the
Country.
The Arab states, however, con-
tinue in a high state of nerves over
Israeli intentions.
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3. United Kingdom
4, Brazil
5, Cuba
An unexpectedly bad ?trade picture
for December has brought increased
pressure against the pound and helped
push gold prices to record levels in
London. Although the British describe
this as due to temporary factors, the
key problem was a decline in exports
last month.
The December trade figures do not
by themselves mean that Britain is los-
ing the battle. Market reaction to the
figures points up, however, the increas-
ing urgency of a substantial improve-
ment in Britain's trade performance to
prevent overreaction by speculators to
temporary setbacks.
President Costa e Silva.hopes Con-
gress can reopen shortly after the first
of June--following a purge of the more
outspoken opposition congressmen. Simi-
lar "housecleanings" are expected in
state legislatures before they are al-
lowed to reconvene.
The generals, who forced the Presi-
dent to close Congress last month, will
not be pleased even with these weak ges-
tures toward democratic norms--and the
President may not get his way.
The flow of fence jumpers into the
US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay con-
tinues. Nine more refugees have come
in since the mass escape of nearly 100
ten,days ago. At this rate, the total
for 1969 will be far in excess of the
1,005 who fled into the base last year.
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6. Colombia
7. Nigeria
8, United Nations
President Lleras faces the prospect
of a showdown with organized labor next
week. Non-Communist labor leaders have
joined Communists in the call for a gen-
eral:strike on Wednesday. Resentment is
growing over Lleras' unpopular labor
policies and the public is upset over
recent hikes in bus fares and utility
rates. The President is hard pressed
in his effort to get non-Communist labor
back on his.side.
The civil war drags on with no
sign of an end to the military stale- 50X1
mate.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
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6
16 January 1969
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
16 January 1969
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Chinese Improve Rail Facilities to North Viet-
nam: The Chinese are completing extensive transload-
ing facilities to improve a reserve railroad for the
delivery of supplies to North Vietnam.
? Recently available satellite photography shows
that as of mid-November there were two almost com-
pleted yards, incorporating about 16,000 feet of
track, to handle transloading operations from stand-
ard to meter gauge. The yards are located near Kun-
? ming at the junction of the Chinese standard gauge
railroad and the-meter gauge line from Hanoi. Work
on the yards began about mid-1966. Together, the
two yards represent facilities about half as large
as at Pinghsiang, which serves the primary railroad
into North Vietnam.
* * *
Hanoi's Reporting of Harriman Statement: Hanoi
Radio's domestic service on 15 January carried a
brief item reporting Ambassador Harriman's remarks in
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Paris last Monday. The broadcast said that Harriman
"admitted" that the Vietnamese and the American
people, as well as the world in general, hoped for
peace. It quoted the ambassador as saying that pub-
lic opinion would encourage efforts aimed at a peace-
ful solution and his warning against expecting and
speaking of a US "victory" in Vietnam.
* * *
Politburo Powwow?: Hoang Van Hoan, the seldom
seen China specialist on the North Vietnamese Polit-
buro, showed up at a recent reception in Hanoi for a
visiting Communist party delegation, according to a
Hanoi broadcast of 14 January. This could be a clue
that the leadership is, or has been, engaged in some
important policy deliberations. Hoan is believed to
have resided in Peking for the last few years and has
appeared in North Vietnam only occasionally; the last
time was in May for the meeting of the National As-
sembly. He has not been noted in public since, al-
though he may well have attended secret leadership
meetings during recent months.
* * *
Cambodian Air Service to Hanoi: On 14 January
a Royal Air Cambodge DC-6 conducted the first flight
under the recently reactivated civil air service be-
tween North Vietnam and Cambodia. ?The aircraft flew
from Phnom Penh over Laos to Hanoi and on to Canton,
thus resuming a service which has been suspended for
three years. The flight is to be made every Tuesday
and increased to two times a week in March. Future
flights will probably be made by a Caravelle recently
purchased from France.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
day.
There is nothing of significance to report to-
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' Vb.
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