THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 25 MARCH 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977366
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: March 25, 1970

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP9T00936A008100210001-4
The President's Daily Brief
25 March 1970
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
25 March 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Cambodia
(page 1)
The opposing forces in Laos have made no major moves
in the past 24 hours. (Page 2)
The terrorists in the Dominican Republic and the gov-
ernment seem ready to negotiate. (Page 3)
The Soviet
(Page 4)
(Page 5)
South_Vietnam. (Page 6)
,Willy Brandt may deny it, but his visit to Erfurt has
evoked demonstrations and vandalism by East German
youth. (Page 7) :
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CAMBODIA
Intercepted Cambodian military messages report
the continuing presence of sizable numbers of Commu-
nist troops in the southeastern border province of
Svay Rieng. One message indicated that these troops
are on alert and are being reinforced. Cambodian
units claim that they are too weak to move against
these concentrations.
1
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LAOS: Current Situation
AREA OF
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LAOS
The Communists continue to squeeze Long Tieng,
but yang Pao's forces have turned back most of the
probes sent against the outpost positions on the
high ground overlooking the base. One such outpost
was overrun yesterday but recaptured.
Tha Tam Bleung was the target of
moves by yang Pao's troops yesterday.
government guerrillas are moving toward it in an ef-
fort to reduce the Communist pressure on Long Tieng.
These seesaw movements are not really in-
dicative of the relative strengths of the
contending forces. The Communists are
moving slowly because they lack a secure
supply line.into the Long Tieng region,
and they probably will refrain from a di-
rect assault on Long Tieng until such time
as they believe they can achieve a quick
victory. Vang Pao, for his part, is con-
tinuing his tested strategy of inflicting
maximum casualties on the attackers while
minimizing his losses.
some counter-
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Yesterday's kidnaping of Lt. Col. Donald J.
Crowley, US air attache, presumably was carried out
by members of the Communist Dominican Popular Move-
ment (NPD), the most terroristic of the several Com-
munist factions. The kidnapers have demanded the
release by 1000 today of the MPD secretary general,
who was captured by the government in January, and
more than 20 other prisoners.
With elections coming up in May, the kid-
naping will add further fuel to opposition
charges that the government is unable to
maintain order. Recent weeks have been
marked by considerable violence on the part
of both the Communists and the military,
and continued clashes between civilians
and police. The latest incident is likely
to be particularly unsettling to President
Balaguer, who must announce his candidacy
this week if he is to run for re-election.
At press time we were informed that a meeting
between spokesmen for the government and for the kid-
napers was then in session.
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USSR
We noted in The President's Daily Brief of 18
March that Soviet preparations
for a large-scale naval exercise in the Mediterra-
nean. Yesterday, the new helicopter carrier Lenin-
grad made its first passage through the Bosporus,
accompanied by two Kashin-class missile frigates.
The Leningrad's sister ship, the Moskva-, has been
in the Mediterranean for several months. There are
now 27 surface combat ships in the Mediterranean--
most of them in the eastern portion--plus 13 subma-
rines and assorted auxiliaries. r
Soviet naval strength in the Mediterra-
nean normally reaches its highest level
during the spring and summer months. The
current buildup?the most powerful force
ever assembled there by the Soviets--may
also be intended as a show of strength
timed to coincide with increased Soviet
military deliveries to Egypt.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
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NORTH VIETNAM
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EAST GERMANY
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Willy Brandt prefers to deny that his visit
to Erfurt brought to the surface any animosity 'to
Ulbricht's government among the East Germans. How-
ever, the trip to Erfurt has sparked demonstrations
that continued throughout East Germany from 19 March--
the date of his visit--until at least 22 March.
More than 140 people have been arrested on
political charges since Brandt and Stoph
met. For Ulbricht's followers, the most
disturbing factor may be that most of those
arrested were young people from officially
sponsored youth or labor organizations.
Thus, they could not be shrugged off as
"hooligans."
The party politburo met on 20 March in a
special session to evaluate the "breakdown"
in Erfurt; it was still deliberating on 23
March. As in the past, the East Germans
probably will find political scapegoats
and tighten security. In the longer run,
with the many instances of public dissen-
sion in mind, the East German leaders could
decide that it will be too risky for them
to invite Brandt to return to East Germany.
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NOTE
Italy: Prime Minister - designate Mariano Rumor
probably will be able to form a new center-left gov-
ernment. The four parties of his coalition are now
bargaining over the allocation of ministerial and
other posts. Having escaped the need to prepare for
elections, parliament can continue work on a variety
of partially enacted economic, administrative, and
social reforms.
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Top Secret
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