THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 28 NOVEMBER 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006014965
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: November 28, 1975

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The President's Daily Brief
November 28, 1975
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 58(t),(2).13)
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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'November 28, 1975
Table of Contents
Bangladesh-India: Bangladesh leaders are trying
to lower tensions with India since the attack
on the Indian High Commissioner in Dacca on
Wednesday. (Page 1)
China: High-level meetings apparently are either
under way or have already concluded in Peking.
(Page 2)
Portugal: Army Chief of Staff Fabiao and security
chief Carvalho have resigned as a result of
the abortive military rebellion. (Page 3)
Spain: The King's limited pardon decree will do
little to prevent a break between his govern-
ment and the leftist opposition. (Page 4)
Lebanon: President Franjiyah has replied to heavy
domestic criticism. (Page 6)
Note: Cambodia (Page 8)
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BANGLADESH?INDIA
Bangladesh leaders have been trying
to lower tensions with India since the
attack on the Indian High Commissioner
in Dacca on Wednesday. In addition to
expressing regret over the incident, the
President of Bangladesh is sending a
special delegation to New Delhi to dis-
cuss ways to improve bilateral relations.
Dacca
has decided that diplomacy is its only real
defense against India. Dacca will make every effort
to reassure New Delhi that it wants friendly rela-
tions. the decision could
be reflected in future statements by Bangladesh
leaders who, in the recent past, have pointedly re-
ferred to "outside forces"--obviously India--as
being behind Dacca's problems.
For the present, Bangladesh officials continue
to express fear of imminent Indian military inter-
vention in their country. They also accuse the
Indians of giving aid and sanctuary to Bengalee
armed dissidents operating in northern Bangladesh.
Officials in New Delhi deny that their govern-
ment is about to intervene militarily in Bangladesh
but warn that intervention would be almost a cer-
tainty if communal violence should flare across the
border.
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CHINA
High-level meetings in Peking appar-
ently are either under way or have already
concluded.
Between November 10 and 20, VIP aircraft flew
to a number of provincial capitals and returned to
Peking.
The American Liaison Office in Peking notes that
on November 24, "scores" of limousines picked up Chi-
nese officials in front of the Great Hall of the
People. The Chinese foreign minister last week can-
celed his first round of talks with the visiting
French foreign minister, and Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-
ping did not meet the French minister until Monday.
The purpose of the meetings can only be specu-
lated. There is no evidence that they are related
to your visit, although this is a possibility. Just
before former President Nixon's trip in 1972, some
high-ranking officials were brought from the prov-
inces to Peking, presumably for a briefing.
The meetings may be concerned with China's Fifth
Five-Year Plan which is scheduled to begin in Janu-
ary. A conference of officials of the Bank of China
reportedly was under way in mid-November to discuss
financial allocations for the new plan. The banking
conference could be one of a series of meetings deal-
ing with the nation's economy.
It is unlikely that the meetings are connected
with the health of Premier Chou En-lai or Chairman
Mao Tse-tung.
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PORTUGAL
The abortive Portuguese military re-
bellion has claimed its first political
victims--Army Chief of Staff Canoe Fabiao
and security chief Otelo de Carvalho, both
of whom resigned yesterday.
The government announcement did not link the
resignations with the leftist rebellion, but the
anti-Communist majority in the Revolutionary Coun-
cil had sought their dismissal for weeks because
of their open encouragement of leftist dissident
groups within the armed forces.
General Fabiao, once one of Portugal's most
highly respected officers, has received much of
the blame for the increasingly divisive political
factionalism in the army. He has been replaced
temporarily by an obscure infantry lieutenant col-
onel.
Carvalho's resignation was largely pro forma,
since he was stripped of his commands earlier this
week. The mercurial Carvalho is widely credited
with having planned and executed the April 25, 1974
coup. He had become the standard-bearer of the
radical left, however, and in recent weeks the Com-
munists also rushed to his defense as he came in-
creasingly under attack for his failure to support
government policies.
President Costa Gomes has announced that the
government will withhold judgment on who was re-
sponsible for the paratroopers' rebellion pending
an official inquiry. Meanwhile, 51 officers and
enlisted men captured during the uprising are being
held.
In the absence of formal charges, the Socialist
and Popular Democratic parties have rushed to seize
the political initiative by blaming the Communists.
Communist Party members discreetly avoided
direct participation in the mutiny, but military
officers believed to have close ties to the party
appear to have played a major role. The Communists
are also vulnerable because of their strident calls
for the government's resignation just prior to the
rebellion.
On Wednesday Costa Gomes said legislative assem-
bly elections, scheduled for early next spring,
would be held as promised.
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SPAIN
The limited pardon issued by Spanish
King Juan Carlos on Wednesday appears to
have done little to reduce chances for
an open break between his government and
the leftist opposition.
Many leftists have reacted angrily to the
King's royal pardon. Riot police yesterday broke
up two demonstrations staged to demand total am-
nesty for political prisoners.
The political opposition has been calling on
Juan Carlos to grant a general amnesty for the
roughly 2,000 Spanish political prisoners as a
token of his commitment to reform.
The Socialist Workers Party--the largest non-
Communist opposition group--pointed out that Franco
had approved several pardons similar to the King's
and charged that the decree showed only that nothing
has changed. Opposition Christian Democrats were
disappointed, but were more willing to look on the
pardon as a "positive step" which might be followed
by others.
The decree has come under heavy criticism for
its vagueness. Much will depend on how the Justice
Ministry interprets the law.
It will not apply to terrorists, Communists,
anarchists, and separatists. The Communists will
probably view their exclusion as confirmation that
the government is trying to isolate them from the
rest of the left. To counter this the party is
trying to stir up opposition to the government
that will attract broad support.
The Communists have had little success in this
effort so far, and the Communist-dominated Workers
Commissions reportedly have now postponed plans
for a national general strike within a week or ten
days of Franco's death.
(continued)
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The Communist Party and the Workers Commissions
plan instead a series of local "days of struggle,"
beginning next week, to help create a more favorable
climate for a general strike.
The government has continued to crack down on
dissidents. The latest edition of the leading polit-
ical weekly magazine was seized for containing a
speculative article on the King's liberalization
plans, and new arrests of dissidents have been re-
ported.
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LEBANON
President Franjiyah has moved to de-
fend himself against recent heavy attacks
by his Muslim, leftist, and Christian
critics.
In a statement Wednesday
Franjiyah said he would disregard criticism of him
personally, but that attacks on the office of the
president were harming the country and should cease.
He said contradictory charges by some that he has
not been assertive enough and by others that his
powers should be curbed prove that he is maintain-
ing a proper, middle-of-the-road policy.
Franjiyah said the government is prepared to
consider seriously any "well-studied plans" for
political, social, or economic reforms. His less-
radical Muslim critics--including Prime Minister
Karami--may at least be willing to test him with
specific proposals.
The first test apparently will come from Ghas-
san Tuwayni, a Christian member of the cabinet and
a political independent. He reportedly has proposed
a detailed program that over a three-week period
would implement a cease-fire and launch specific
social and economic reforms. The success of this
plan, if it wins cabinet approval, will hinge on
the willingness of the country's political leaders
to have their private militias act as a national
guard in patrolling Beirut.
Leaders of the right-wing Phalanges Party may
welcome both Franjiyah's speech and Tuwayni's ini-
tiative. They will see Franjiyah's willingness to
speak up for Christian interests as providing at
least some assurance that they will be able to re-
sist giving up too much in any negotiations that
might follow a cease-fire. A cease-fire, at a min-
imum, would provide another opportunity to rearm.
The Phalangists, like the other Christian
groups, remain pessimistic that the Muslims will
temper their political demands to the extent neces-
sary to allow agreement on fundamental issues. Any
negotiations without preconditions would buy time,
(continued)
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however, and would allow the Christians to contend
that they were heeding the advice of foreign media-
tors who counsel a more conciliatory attitude.
even the ultra-con-
servative Maronite monks may have become slightly
more reasonable as a result of urgings from the
Vatican early this month. There is no chance the
monks will endorse proposals for political reform,
but even reduced opposition from them would give
conservative Christians like Franjiyah more freedom
to negotiate. Maronite religious orders and lay
groups are a principal source of arms and funds for
the Christian militias.
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The tentative signs of political progress have
combined with heavy rains to reduce the fighting in
Beirut. Government spokesmen are cautiously opti-
mistic that commercial activity can resume on Mon-
day.
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NOTE
Large-scale population relocations involving
one-half million people are under way in Cambodia.
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300,000 people from southeastern Cambodia are to be
relocated--100,000 of them into the sparsely popu-
lated northeast and the rest to the north and north-
west. The northwest region is also scheduled to re-
ceive an additional 200,000 people from southwestern
Cambodia beginning this month.
This new forced migration is probably part of a
broad effort by Phnom Penh to increase agricultural
production. Over the short term, the human cost will
probably be high. As was the case in the initial re-
locations last spring, these transfers appear to be
taking place abruptly with little if any preparations
to provide housing and other facilities.
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Top Secret
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