THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 23 MARCH 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007705
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: March 23, 1974

Declassified'in?Part:-Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936412000010039-1
The President's Daily Brief
MarM 23, 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of EO. 11652
exemption category 58( 1),(2).(3)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
March 23, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Hanoi's leaders.have restated their intention to put
reconstruction.and development in North Vietnam ahead
of the struggle in the South over the next couple of
years. (Page 1)
Soviet propaganda is using the Paracels incident and.
Chinese support for insurgents in Burma to exploit
traditional distrust of the Chinese in southern Asia.
(Page 2)
Ethiopia's new government is attacking long-standing
problems and, at least for the moment, appears to be
coping effectively with threats to its authority.
(Page 3)
Notes on France, the USSR-Egypt, China, and the USSR
appear on Pages 4 and 5.
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NORTH VIETNAM
?The Hanoi leadership has reiterated its intention
to put .reconstruction and development in North Vietnam
ahead of the struggle in the South over the next couple
of years
In a recent authoritative article, Vice Premier
Le Thanh Nghi states that the North's "key task" is to
rebuild and industrialize the economy. He bluntly as-
serts that the North should not be "too bent" on main-
taining vigilance and on "making preparations for war,"
lest the reconstruction effort suffer. He indicates
that this will be the party line through 1974 and 1975.
Nghi makes it clear that Hanoi also remains com-
mitted to the struggle in the South. He claims, how-
ever, that North Vietnam can best fulfill its revolu-
tionary duties by building its own economic strength,
a theme stressed by party leader Le Duan last spring.
Nghi does not rule out the possibility that, once the
North has rebuilt its economy--and improved its mili-
tary forces--it will try another major military cam-
paign in the South.
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USSR - CHINA - SOUTHEAST ASIA
Moscow's propaganda mill has been using the Para-
cels incident and Chinese support for insurgents in
Burma to exploit traditional distrust of the Chinese
in South and Southeast Asia. In February, Soviet en?
-
voys in five South Asian countries, including Burma,
met in Moscow to discuss ways of countering Chinese
influence in the area. Ambassadorial consultations
are not unusual, but the anti-Chinese theme of that
particular meeting was exceptional.
Soviet anti-Chinese-propaganda may also reflect
an underlying concern that Peking's effort. to increase
its infltenCe in southern Asia:is somehow being abetted
by the US./
/collusion between the US and China
had enabled Peking to act recklessly in the Paracels.
Moscow has also publicly charged that such collusion
has taken place in northern Burma, and has argued that
Peking's mild reaction to the Diego Garcia base indi-
cates that Peking favors an expanded US naval presence
in the Indian Ocean.
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ETHIOPIA
The new and shaky government is attacking long-
standing problems and, at least for the moment, ap-
pears to be coping effectively with threats to its
authority.
Prime Minister Endalkatchew this week named
the 30 members of a conference to liberalize the
constitution. They come from both modern and tra-
ditional segments of Ethiopian society and also in-
clude figures from the country's Muslim population.
The conference will have six months to revise the
constitution so as to give Ethiopia a parliamentary
government.
In an effort to deal with famine and serious
drought, the government has assigned troops and mil-
itary vehicles to distribute relief supplies. The
public school teachers' association has agreed to
send its members back to work, and secondary schools
in the capital appear to be functioning again.
Teachers and students at Haile Selassie I University
are still out on strike, however.
The army this week put down a protest by mili-
tary orderlies at the Harar Military Academy. It
is also performing search and destroy operations
against Eritrean insurgents, who might try to ex-
ploit the recent unrest.
Serious problems remain. Money must be found
for the pay raises the Emperor promised to both
military and civilian officials; there is serious
unrest in rural areas, particularly in an area
south of the capital where tribesmen have burned
farms and killed livestock; and military dissidents
who began the recent troubles have reportedly threat-
ened to intervene again if the government fails to
live up to its promises.
Ethiopia apparently is turning to the US for
help. Endalkatchew has told the US ambassador he
would like to send a high-level delegation to Wash-
ington to discuss increased US military and economic
assistance.
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NOTES
France: Foreign Minister Jobert, who is visiting
Algeria thisweekend, stated in an interview published
by the Algerian press service that continuation of the
oil embargo against the Dutch and discrimination against
the Danes endanger EC-Arab cooperation. Senior Quai
officials told the US Embassy on March 21 that Jobert
felt it was "high time" to make a strong statement to
the Arabs emphasizing the necessity to treat all EC
members equally. Jobert's statement is part of Paris'
current effort to re-establish its European credentials
and to assume leadership of its European partners.
USSR-Egypt:
China:
(continued)
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USSR:
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