CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/05/08

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02063773
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: May 8, 1957

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CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
C0-A3e7,11071/17,13
///'
8
May
1957
Copy No.
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
DOCUMENT
NO CHANGE IN CLASS. A
El DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS
NEXT F1EVIEW DATE:
AUTH: H �-
DATE' REVIE.WER:
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
134
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CONTENTS
. HONDURAN-NICARAGUAN DISPUTE STILL DANGEROUS
(page 3).
2. ISRAELI PREPARATIONS TO TEST AQABA AND SUEZ
/V0
PASSAGE (page 4).
Iv 0 3� USSR CONTINUES TO ENCOURAGE EGYPTIAN ACTION
AGAINST KING HUSSAIN (page 6).
4. HAMMARSKJOLD TO VISIT ISRAEL DESPITE BEN-GURION'S
pvO REBUFF (page 7).
Ivo 5. DETAILS OF MAO 'TSE-TUNG'S SECRET SPEECH REPORTED
(page 8).
0 6. CUBA WILL KEE
US NAVAL BASE
MERCHANT SHIPS AWAY FROM
page 9).
og, 7. EL SALVADOR AND POLAND DISCUSS COMMERCIAL AGREE-
MENT (page 10).
Ay 8,, KHRUSHCHEV PRE
UN REORGANIZATION
8 May 57
OR SOVIET ECONOMIC
(page 11).
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1. HONDURAN-NICARAGUAN DISPUTE STILL DANGEROUS
Comment on:
The general feeling in Nicaragua is that
the dispute with Honduras is still dan-
gerous, despite the temporary cease-
fire agreement negotiated by the special
committee of the Organization of Amer-
ican States (OAS) on 5 May. The pub-
licity being given unconfirmed reports
of violations of the cease-fire by both
sides is aggravating the situation and
making more difficult the committee's
efforts to work out a plan for troop with-
drawals acceptable to both sides. The
OAS has called on the five countries represented on the spe-
cial committee to provide military personnel to act as border
observers. The American military group arrived in Hon-
duras on 6 May.
Members of the Honduran military junta,
who signed the cease-fire with great reluctance, informed
the American ambassador early on 6 May that they feared
public reaction to the agreement might lead to an upheaval
and possibly their overthrow.
Press reports from Honduras claiming
that Nicaraguan troops had crossed into Honduras near the
Inter-American Highway on 7 May were denied in Nicaragua.
8 May 57
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2. ISRAELI PREPARATIONS TO TEST AQABA AND
SUEZ PASSAGE
A test paTssage of an Israeli-flag vessel,
the Atlit, through the Gulf of Aqaba to
Eilat will probably take place at the
end of May or in early June. Although
the Atlit, which is now en route around
Africa, could reach Eilat as early as
19 May, it is reported scheduled to leave
Djibouti in French Somaliland on the last
stage oi tne trip to 'Eilat about 28 May, reaching Eilat about
3 June. The Israelis reportedly intend to escort the Atlit
from Djibouti through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.
Israel now has two patrol escorts available for this purpose
at Eilat, together with at least two armed launches. Israel
reportedly expects that the transit will be opposed and in-
tends to fight if attacked.
The recent arrival of two newly built
French destroyers and an LST at Djibouti to "test hot
weather capabilities" has significantly increased French
naval strength there, which normally consists of a patrol
escort, a coastal mine sweeper and a seaplane tender. Ac-
cording to an unconfirmed report, the 1,500 French ground
troops normally at Djibouti have also been reinforced by
possibly 1,000 men. Although French forces on Cyprus have
recently been reduced, the possible reinforcement in French
Somaliland may indicate that France intends to render mili-
tary assistance to Israel if Egypt or Saudi Arabia attempts
to prevent use of the Gulf of Aqaba by Israeli shipping.
Egypt has at least two fleet mine sweepers
and four to eight motor torpedo boats in the southern Suez
Canal area, and could reinforce rapidly from Port Said.
the shipment of 200
mines to Ras Gharib, a point on the lower Gulf of Suez and
8 May 57
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about 125 miles from the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba.
Mining of the entrance to the gulf would prove difficult,
however, because the main channel is over 900 feet deep
Because of range limitations, Israeli
jet fighters operating from their normal bases could effec-
tively cover only the upper hall of the Gulf of Aqaba. Egypt's
11-28 jet light bombers, however, could operate over any
part of the gulf.
Meanwhile, the Danish vessel Jens Toft,
which is almost certainly under Israeli charter and is en
route from the Philippines to Haifa with a cargo of copra,
could arrive at the Suez Canal for an attempted transit by
8 May.
A press report from Jordan on 7 May sug-
gests that the American-flag tanker Kern Hills has again ar-
rived at Eilat.
8 May 57
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3. USSR CONTINUES TO ENCOURAGE EGYPTIAN ACTION
AGAINST KING HUSSAIN
3Oviet deputy foreign minister Semenov
asked the Egyptian ambassador
whether "more measures
axe needed" to bring the Jordanian ques-
tion before the Security Council,
In Jor-
,_
clan, he said, "masters act against their people" and the
isolation of such circles would be a "great defeat for the
Americans." He warned that "stubbornness" would be re-
quired against the new American "world colonial system,"
and said, "Egypt will not be alone. Its ties should be ex-
tended."
Comment The Soviet UN delegate said on 26 April
the UN should restrain the activities of
the US Sixth Fleet, but the USSR has not requested formal
Security Council consideration of its charges of US interven-
tion in Jordan.
8 May 57
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4., HAMMARSKJOLD TO VISIT ISRAEL DESPITE BEN-
GURION'S REBUFFS
UN secfetary general Hammarskjold
plans to visit Israeli prime minister
Ben-Gurion in Jerusalem the latter part
of this week, even though he doubts any
good result will come from the trip. In
a recent exchange of correspondence, the Israeli leader re-
iterated his refusal to discuss the future of the UN Emergency
Force or implementation of the armistice agreement before
Israel has been advised by Hammarskjold "and the relevant UN
bodies that the implementation by Egypt of its obligations un-
der the charter of the UN and the decisions of the Security Coun-
cil" was assured.
Hammarskjold believes Ben-Gurion's lat-
est letter proves that the Israelis do not want him to make the
visit but would prefer the refusal to come from the UN rather
than from Tel Aviv. The secretary general is going ahead with
his plans in order to maintain a UN record of readiness to nego-
tiate.
Comment During Hammarskjold's last visit to the
Near East, the Israelis covered the fact
that they had not invited him to Israel by issuing, on the eve
of his departure from the area, a statement that he would of
course be "welcome:' Other recent reports on the Israeli at-
titude have suggested that Tel Aviv is again engaged in one of
its periodic campaigns to reduce the UN's prestige and the ef-
fectiveness of its efforts to keep the peace. The present cam-
paign is probably related to the Israelis' fear of further UN
resolutions pressing them to accept the UNEF on their side of
the armistice line.
8 May 57
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5. DETAILS OF MAO TSE-TUNG'S SECRET
SPEECH REPORTI"-s
In a secret speech of 27 February at the
Supreme State Conference, Mao Tse-tung
stressed that current problems arising
between the Peiping regime and the Chinese
people should be solved through discussions, "not by force."
these problems were said by Mao to include popular hostility
to urban and rural socialization, counterrevolutionary activi-
ties, strikes, other forms of unrest among students and
workers, and demands for freedom of the press and arts.
Noting that 700,000 people had been liquidated in the agrarian
and other campaigns of 1950-1952, Mao said that violence
"would not now be tolerated by the people:'
Mao called for learning "all that is good"
from all countries without "mechanical copying of experiences:'
He recommended learning "even" from the United States, es-
pecially in the fields of science and technology. Mao dis-
counted the possibility of a third world war in the near future.
Comment While Mao's speech remains unpublished,
Chinese Communist leaders have made
similar points in authoritative statements, indicating Peiping
is having some of the same problems as the USSR in seeking
to stimulate greater enthusiasm for the regime's program with-
out sacrificing totalitarian controls.
Mao's advice to learn "all that is good" from
all countries is apparently being implemented. The outgoing
counselor of the British embassy in Peiping recently observed
that technical publications from the United States, Britain,
France and Germany are available in increasing numbers in
Communist China.
8 May 57
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6. CUBA WILL KEEP SOVIET MERCHANT SHIPS AWAY
FROM US NAVAL BASE
The general manager of the Cuban
Sugar Institute has promised the Amer-
ican agricultural attach�n Havana
that Soviet merchant ships will not in
the future be scheduled to load sugar at Guantanamo Bay
in the vicinity of the major US naval base in southeastern
Cuba.
Comment The navy reported on 3 May that a So-
viet merchant ship delayed its departure
after loading sugar at Guantanamo Bay in order to monitor
electronic emissions. Each of three Soviet ships loading at
Guantanamo in recent weeks has experienced an unusual and
unexplained delay.
Almost half of all the ships transporting
the 150,000 tons of Cuban sugar purchased by the USSR in
February have been of Soviet registry. During the two pre-
ceding years, only one Soviet ship was involved in shipments
of Cuban sugar to the USSR,
The USSR has purchased a total of 350,000
Spanish long tons of Cuban sugar at below-market prices dur-
ing 1957. Delivery is to be completed by July.
8 May 57
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7. EL SALVADOR AND POLAND DISCUSS
COMMERCIAL AGREEMENT
Preliminary talks between Salvadoran
and Polish officials resulted in com-
plete accord on a commercial agreement
under which Salvadoran coffee and cotton
would be exchanged for Polish machinery
Comment
El Salvador, which does not maintain
diplomatic relations with any Sino-
Soviet bloc country, has heretofore had only negligible trade
with Poland. No Central American country now has any trade
agreements with the Soviet bloc.
There has been growing pressure over
the past year from Salvadoran coffee growers to expand the
country's coffee markets to include Soviet bloc countries.
Coffee makes up about 85 percent of Salvadoran exports, and
many Salvadorans fear that overdependence on the US market
would result in lower prices for their chief export. About
half of the 1956-1957 coffee crop went to countries other than
the United States, with West Germany taking substantial quan-
tities.
8 May 57
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8. KHRUSHCHEV PRESENTS PLAN FOR SOVIET
ECONOMIC REORGANIZATION
Comment on:
Khrushchev's proposals to the USSR
Supreme Soviet on 7 May for the reor-
ganization of Soviet industrial adminis-
tration conform in general to his "theses"
published 30 March 1957,
He proposed, however, retaining more
ministries in Moscow than had previously been indicated,
which suggests that he was premature and overly ambitious
in proposing in his "theses" that all industrial ministries be
abolished. The ministries responsible for producing mili-
tary end items, operating the atomic energy program, pro-
ducing electric power, and constructing transport facilities
will be retained for planning functions and general technical
control, but Khrushchev proposed that they should be reor-
ganized to divest them of responsibility for direct manage-
ment of their enterprises.
Some other ministries, mainly extractive,
are to be transferred to the jurisdiction of appropriate union
republics and located in cities nearest the principal centers
of their activity. This proximity to production centers is in-
tended to foster efficiency of direction and stimulate local
initiative in the industries concerned.
The remaining industrial and construction
ministries (some 20) are to be abolished. Khrushchev calls
for the creation of 92 economic administrative districts, 68 of
which will be located in the huge, sprawling Russian republic
(RSFSR), to manage the enterprises of the abolished ministries.
Khrushchev urged that the reorganization
should be completed during May and June 1957, thus seemingly
8 May 57
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branding Kaganovich's earlier "by winter" estimate as too
conservative. The speed with which Khrushchev would have
the plan carried out will intensify the confusion and disrup-
tions inherent in any reorganization as sweeping as this one,
but he probably feels that a progressive weakening of indus-
trial administration will take place if the reorganization is
delayed or drawn out.
8 May 57
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