THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 19 JUNE 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976835
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: June 19, 1969

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007200160001-0
The President's Daily Brief
19 June 1969
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MAJOR PROBLEMS
VIETNAM
The Saigon government apparently is cracking down on a
left-wing opposition group, the National Progressive Force.
This organization recently called for a "government of con-
ciliation" to replace the present one and is said to advo-
cate cooperation with the Communists' Provisional Revolu-
tionary Government. Although it does not now have a wide
following, its appeal could grow among those Vietnamese who
believe the US may waver in its support of the present gov-
ernment and look around for leaders more acceptable to the
Communists in order to reach a peace settlement. Its leader,
Tran Ngoc Lieng, now claims that he and several of his fol-
lowers have been ordered to appear before Saigon police for
questioning, and that a number of other members of his group
are being detained by the police.
? The Communists on 17-18 June "'continued their shelling
of allied installations in widely separated areas of South
Vietnam. Several air bases came under fire, including Bien
Hoa northeast of Saigon.
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MIDDLE EAST
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EUROPE
Pompidou's most pressing worries when he assumes the
French presidency on Friday are sure to be in the domestic
field; economic difficulties will probably be at the top of
the list. Evidence of an overheating of the economy has been
accumulating since early spring. As a result, prices are
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coming under heavy inflationary pressure, with evident dan-
gers to FrenCh foreign trade.
The unions, which were quiet during the De Gaulle refer-
endum and the subsequent elections, will undoubtedly be re-
newing their agitation for higher wages. Their efforts will
get a good deal of support from the parties of the left in
general, and from the Communists in particular. The leftists',
who are aware of their limited prospects in the political
arena, will now be channeling most of their organizational
and propaganda energy into efforts to take advantage of popu-
lar discontent.
SOVIET AFFAIRS
The main document issued by the Moscow conference avoids
grappling with the controversial issues which came up in the
delegates' speeches. The changes that were made right up to
the last minute were primarily those of nuance and do not
fundamentally alter the draft that was proposed by Moscow last
March. Then, as now, the formulation of key points is aimed
at winning support--no matter how grudging--from the largest
possible number of parties rather than laying out a course of
action for the Communist world. The document contains neither
a condemnation of China nor. specific endorsement of the Soviet
invasion of Czechoslovakia. It does, however, contain enough
vague rhetoric to provide the conference participants with
words and phrases to quote in support of their divergent views.
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II, OTHER IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS
COMMUNIST CHINA
We see some signs that government ministries are be-
ginning to function more normally in the wake of the party
congress in April. several of the
central government's key economic ministries--petroleum,
metallurgy, chemical industries, and materials alloca-
tion--have called provincial representatives to national-
level conferences this month to discuss planning commit-
ments for the latter half of 1969. This represents the
highest level of activity in these vital fields in three
years.
New attention is being given to the urgent problem of
birth control, largely ignored during the Cultural Revolu-
tion, with medical personnel already dispersed to rural
areas. In the field of foreign affairs, ambassadors are
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being sent abroad
since early 1967.
for the first time
There is no indication yet, however, that the party
congress made substantive decisions on basic economic and
social policies or on restructuring and staffing central
government organs. These problems, together with Peking's
overriding preoccupation with achieving leadership "unity"
at all levels, suggest that a meaningful return to normal
governmental operations will be slow at best.
GUATEMALA
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Top Secret
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