THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 31 OCTOBER 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977067
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: October 31, 1969

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007600270001-4
The President's Daily Brief
31 October 1969
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
31 October 1969
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
As Arab mediation efforts go forward in Cairo, fed-
ayeen elements have attacked a town overlooking the
main road from Syria to southern Lebanon. (Page 1)
General Ovando, only five weeks in power as Boliv-
ia's new strongman, is already finding himself on
shaky ground. (Page 2)
In the Philippines, the Marcos bandwagon is begin-
ning to roll as the presidential campaign enters
its last two weeks. (Page 4)
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LEBANON
Egyptian newspapers, among them the authori-
tative Al Ahram, claim that the Lebanese Government
has decided to allow the fedayeen freedomof action
in its territory. This decision, according to these
sources, was to have been revealed yesterday at the
talks now under way in Cairo. General Bustani, head
of the Lebanese military delegation, and President
Hilu are said to have conferred with one another
before the decision was reached.
There is no direct word on this from of-
ficial sources in Beirut, but the logic
of the situation as it has evolved would
seemingly impel Hilu toward an essentially
laissez-faire policy toward the fedayeen.
Fedayeen representatives have yet to show up
for the Cairo talks. Fatah sources disclosed yes-
terday that the organization had once again reversed
itself and would not be sending representatives.
In Lebanon, the truce proclaimed Tuesday ended
yesterday amid fedayeen charges that the government
had violated it. Whatever the truth to these as-
sertions, the fedayeen lost little time in attack-
ing Rashaya, a town that overlooks the main road
from the Syrian border to southern Lebanon.
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BOLIVIA
President Ovando, only five weeks in the job,
is already threatened with coups from both the
right and the left.
In Washington, Bolivian Ambassador Sanjines
has told US officials about reports from his per-
sonal friends, some in fairlyhigh government posts.
The gist of his information is that many military
officers, especially those who worked with Presi-
dent Barrientos, are dissatisfied and disturbed by
Ovando's performance thus far. They resent his
seeming obeisance to. the civilians advocating left-
ist'and nationalistic policies. These officers
wanta return to the old policies and an,improve-
ment in relations with theUS. Sanjines said that
talk of a coup is increasing among. this group.
For their part, the radicals--who seem to be
following the lead of Minister of Mines Quiroga--
are also less than enchanted with Ovando. Although
they have been able to push him into his present
position, they feat they may not be able to nudge,
him any further. According to Sanjines? this group
would like to replace Ovando--and QuirOga,.we know,
would like to be-president.
We must remember that Sanjines' has his
own prejudices and biasesf
_ / We know
that Quiroga is sharp and ambitious and
suspect that he has surrounded himself
with some powerful allies, (see The Pres-
ident's Daily Brief of 29 September). We
also know that Bolivian military men in
general and followers of Barrientos in
particular are not pleased with the pres-
ent trend. They may well have Lost re-
spect for Ovando.
(continued)
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Ovando is not clever enough to play these
groups against each other for very long.
Ambassador Sanjines predicts a series of
coups and countercoups in the near future,
which is certainly possible--although at
present we have no firm evidence to help
us evaluate his forecast.
Ovando has been trying to build up popu-
lar Support
because would help him stare
down his political enemies. He has made
some progress, but the initially favorable
reception given his economic austerity
program will change as the public begins
to feel the pinch. For one thing, he
will have to renege on his promise to
raise miners' wages. All in all, it looks
like a bad year for Bolivia and for US-
Bolivian relations.
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bUKI
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PHILIPPINES
President Marcos' election campaign is gain-
ing momentum, and he now stands a good chance to
become on 11 November the first Philippine presi-
dent in history to be elected to a second term.
With less than two weeks of the campaign left,
Marcos has picked up important independent backing.
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For a time in September, opposition can-
didate Sergio Osmena of the Liberal Party
threatened to make a close race of it.
However, beset by party factionalism and
money problems, he has not been able to
keep up the pace. It seems unlikely that
he can now call forth the last-minute
surge needed to beat Marcos.
Relations with the US have assumed more than
usual prominence in a Philippine election campaign.
Both. candidates have felt compelled to compete with.
one. another in promising to seek clear acknowledg-
ment of Philippine sovereignty over US bases and
personnel stationed in the country.
The campaign has typically centered on name-
calling and charges of corruption,. but by Philip-
pine standards there has been little violence so
far. Intense press scrutiny and, vigorous if un-
customary monitoring by the presidentially ap-
pointed Commissioner on Elections seem to have
prompted the parties to hold back on traditional
strongarm tactics.. .
Some, voter intimidation is still, possible,
however. Marcos, still shaken by Osmena's
early showing, is likely to leave nothing
to chance,
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NOTES
Nationalist China - Israel:
Israel-Egypt: Israel, using a new tactic in
its harassment of the Egyptians, has announced it,
carried out three small helicopter raids along the
Gulf of Suez in the past ten days
This kind of activity is probably conducted more
for its nuisance value and psychological effect
than to inflict heavy damage. But it may divert
more Egyptian troops to this area.
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Top Secret
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