CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1960/10/31

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02977801
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: March 17, 2020
• Document Release Date: March 26, 2020
• Publication Date: October 31, 1960

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3.5(c)
31 October 1960
Copy No. C 75
CENTRAL
NTELLIGE\CE
BULLETIN
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31 OCTOBER 1960
I. THE COMMUNIST BLOC
USSR engaged in major program to pur-
chase tankers in free world; contracts
already signed for seven, with negotia-
tions under way for at Least 12 more.
0
Soviet party central committee to meet in
December on agriculture; shortcomings
this year and last may lead to shake-up
in agricultural leadership. 0
I I. ASIA-AFRICA
Situation in Laos.
Situation in the Congo.
III. THE WEST
Salvadoran military elements opposed to
present junta may try to seize control;
US Embassy sees various appointments
by junta and return to country of many
extreme leftists as strengthening govern
ment's ''far-left, pro-Castro tinge."
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
31 October 1960
DAILY BRIEF
A.
I. THE COMMUNIST BLOC
USSR: The Soviet Union has launched a major program
to puTeriie large, modern tankers in the free world in order
to reduce its dependence on chartered Western vessels. Nego-
tiations with the Netherlands, Italy, and Japan have resulted
In Soviet contracts for seven tankers, two of them already de-
livered, and negotiations are under way for at least 12 others,
with tonnages ranging from 25,000 to 48,000 dead-weight tons
each. The first tanker purchased under this program already
is en route to the Black Sea to load petroleum for Cuba. All
but two Soviet-owned tankers in operation heretofore have been
in the 11,000-ton class or smaller. (Page 1)
USSR: The Soviet party central committee is scheduled to
meet-15E1-3 December to consider agricultural matters, accord-
ing to a TASS announcement. Soviet agricultural production has
for the second straight year been well below the annual levels re-
quired to meet the Seven-Year Plan goals. The December meet- g.
ing will undoubtedly review proposals for improving the organiza-
tion of agricultural management, and may signal a shake-up in
agricultural leadership. It may also consider other matters,
particularly the results of t1.1-. 1-1.1,-,^ 1 innig
ers scheduled for November.
II. ASIA-AFRICA
Laos: 'The Pathet Lao is demanding participation in a coali-
tion government as one of its major conditions in the peace talks
with the Vientiane government, according to one of the govern-
ment negotiators. Souvanna Phouma, in a recent conversation
with the American ambassador, gave the impression that he had
not ruled out Pathet participation in an expanded government of
national union. Soviet Ambassador Abramov, meanwhile, has left j
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kfted
Ill Vientiane for his resident post in Phnom Penh, and has
stated he does not intend to return to Vientiane for several
weeksV (Page 3)
Republic of the Congo: Renewed tribal fighting in southern
Kasai Province, together with increasing friction between Ka-
tanga President Tshombe and UN officials in Elisabethville,
have brought
Interior,
hostile
tribesmen were being aided and armed by certain UN contingents;
he also stated that "We consider ourselves to be at war" with
hostile tribes in the Luluabourg area.
The UN announcement that a 15-nation conciliation committee
will be sent to Leopoldville appears unlikely to do much to end
the political stalemate there. Lumumba's African supporters
had favored the dispatch of a smiller rnun with thmembership
weighted in favor of Lumumba. (Page 5)
III. THE WEST
El Salvador: Military elements opposed to the six-
man junta which assumed power following the 26 October oust-
er IA President Lemus are planning to stage a countercoup
within the next few days, according to sources of the US Em-
bassy in San Salvador. The US Army attach�here reported on
28 October that the junta continued to appear in complete con-
trol, but added that even an abortive new coup attempt could
result in considerable bloodshed. The embassy, in comment-
ing on the junta's appointments to government positions and the
return to El Salvador since 26 October of many Communist and
pro-Communist student and labor leaders, notes that these "fur-
ther strengthen the Iax-left, pro-Castro tinge of the new gov-
ernment." Page 7)
31 Oct 60
DAILY BRIEF II
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Moscow Seeking Free-World Tankers
The Soviet Union has launched a major program to pro-
cure large, modern tankers in the free world to boost the
carrying capacity of its tanker fleet and to lessen its depend-
ence on chartered Western vessels. It is negotiating with the
Netherlands, Italy, and Japan for the purchase of nearly 20
vessels--some already launched �with tonnages ranging from
25,000 to 48,000 dead-weight tons each. As all but two Soviet-
owned tankers now carrying oil exports fall in the 11,000-ton
class or smaller, these acquisitions would increase sig *-
cantiv the USSR's ability to transport its own petroleum.
The first tanker purchased from the Netherlands under this
program already is en route to the Black Sea to load petroleum
for Cuba. This 25,000-ton vessel was originally contracted for
by Greek owners, but was sold to the USSR prior to delivery--
apparently for cash. Four more Dutch tankers of this class are
to be delivered to the USSR during the next two years.
In Japan, the Soviet Union has recently purchased a 39,000-
ton tanker and is said to have closed a deal for another vessel
of this size. In addition, Moscow has opened negotiations for
several Japanese tankers of more than 30,000 tons each, In line
with Soviet efforts to acquire larger vessels, Japan was asked to
increase from 20,000 to 35,000 tons the size of the five tankers
the USSR plans to buy under the terms of the Soviet-Japanese trade
pact.
Moscow is offering large quantities of wheat in exchange for Italian
ships. The USSR wants to purchase immediately two tankers of
47,700 tons each launched earlier this year for the Italian state fu-
els agency (EM) and to contract for the construction of four or five
35,000-ton tankers. For six weeks Soviet representatives have been
pressing for an agreement on the two EM tankers, but no decision
has yet been made by the Italian Government.
The USSR's petroleum commitments to Cuba, which have re-
quired substantial readjustments in the employment of Soviet tankers
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and the chartering of many Western vessels, probably are the
immediate impetus for these purchases. Moscow has accom-
plished these readjustments successfully, but in the long-run
probably hopes to reduce or even eliminate Soviet reliance on
chartered vessels and is looking to Western shipbuilders to
supplement bloc construction programs as the most rapid way
to achieve this aim.
-SEeRET
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Situation in Laos
inister of Finance Inpeng, a member of the Laotian Gov-
ernment negotiating team in the peace talks with the Pathet Lao
now in progress in Vientiane, states that the Pathets now are
specifying participation in a coalition government as one of their
major conditions for a settlement. In previous sessions of the
talks, the Pathets had seemed to soft-pedal demands for partici-
pation in a coalition government while concentrating on appeals
for joint military action against Phoumi. It is possible that they
have taken Vientiane's lack of aggressiveness toward Savannakhet
to indicate an eventual reconciliation between the two, and are
therefore entering their bid for a place in any government of na-
tional unity which might result-of
L Premier Souvanna Phouma, in a recent conversation with
Ambassador Brown in Vientiane, indicated willingness to reor-
ganize his government to include Phoumi partisans, but not Phou-
mi himself, if the Savannakhet Revolutionary Committee was dis-
solved--a move which Phoumi has thus far shown little disposition
to make. Souvanna added that this might be followed by inclusion
of one or two members of the Neo Lao Hak Sat (NLHS), the Pathet
Lao's legal political front, to make the resulting government one
of national union. Souvanna later qualified his remarks by saying
that NLHS inclusion in the government was merely one "concep-
tion" which might lead to a comprehensive solution of the crisis
in Laos:I
L 'Soviet Ambassador Abramov and his party left Vientiane on
28 October to return to Abramov's resident post in Phnom Penh as
ambassador to Cambodia. Prior to departure, members of the
party told Brown that Abramov would return in a few weeks but
that there were no plans for the establishment of a resident staff
in Vientiane at least until next year. /
[The possibility of renewed attacks by Vientiane forces, possi-
bly in collaboration with the Pathet Lao, on Phoumi's forces between
Pak Sane and Thakhek continues to be the subject of conflicting re-
ports. The principal indicator of any build-up for attacks on Phoumi
has been reports of the movement of a sizable number of trucks
-SEGRE-
31 Oct 60
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Lsouthward from Vientiane. The American Army attache in
Vientiane does not believe there is yet sufficient evidence to
support the thesis of a heavy build-up of the forces of Captain
Kong Le and the Pathet Lao for an attack southward toward
Thakhek.
a recent reconnaissance by a company of Phoumi's troops
revealed nothing of significance. The Vientiane forces were
reported to be digging defensive positions north of the Ca Dinh
River. The vulnerability of Phoumi's force to an attack is sug-
gested, however,
that Phoumi's commanders at Thakhek are defensive minded,
lacking the stomach to fight)
Li four-day Buddhist festival �That Luang beginning on
1 November and during which all government offices will be
closed may provide a much-needed lull in which the various
figures in the present conflict can reassess their positions. On
the other hand, any of the parties involved might use the lull to
take surprise action�for example, a renewed offensive by Kong
Le against Phoumi or even a coup d'etat against the Souvanna
governmenf.:,
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Novi Naso
Republic of the Congo: Renewed tribal fighting in southern
Kasai Province, together with increasing friction between Ka-
tanga President Tshombe and UN officials in Elisabethville,
have brought a further deterioration of conditions in the Congo
infPrinr
hostile tribesmen with whom "we consider ourselves to
be at war" were given aid, including arms, by certain UN
contingents near Leopoldville. According to press reports,
as many as 5,000 pro-Kalonji irregulars who were moving
against the Luluas on 29 October have been thwarted by UN
forces. Their leader, a white man, and three Belgian ad-
portedly were taken into custody.
In Katanga, where President Tshombe has been openly
critical of the UN's failure to deal effectively with Baluba
dissidents, relations have been further strained by unilateral
UN efforts to mediate the tribal dispute. In a move described
by the American consul as a "direct and defiant challenge to
Tshombe," UN representative Dayal on 29 October dispatched
a Baluba delegation including Tshombe's chief rival, Jason
Sendwe, to meet with the Baluba dissidents. Tshombe, who
had issued a decree on 27 October forbidding Sendwe to return
to Katanga, warned the UN of "grave consequences" should he
return. Tshombe then reiterated his determin tion to keep
Sendwe out "at all costs."
The UN's announcement that a 15-nation conciliation com-
mittee will be sent to Leopoldville appears unlikely to have
any immediate effect on the present political stalemate. Lumum-
ba's African supporters--which include Guinea, Ghana, Morocco,
and the UAR--are believed to have favored a smaller committee
with membership weighted in favor of Lumumba.
the UN "is still continuing in its plan, which is to
Isolate Mobutu in his barracks but not to eliminate him completely,
since it might need him in the future to strike down a rising
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force." He added that "it is also clear that the UN's plan is aimed
at weakening all (political) forces in order to gain control over
them and impose a solution."
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Countercoup in El Salvador May Be Attempted
An attempt may be made within a few days to unseat the
six-man junta which assumed power in El Salvador following
the ouster of President Jose Maria Lemus on 26 October, ac-
cording to US Embassy sources. Military elements believed
to be involved in the plot are reportedly led by General Manuel
Cordova, army chief of staff under the Lemus regime and a re-
puted intriguer. While General Cordova is not believed to have
a strong personal following, it is likely that he would be sup-
ported in a coup attempt by some military units outside the cap-
ital.
The US Army attache in San Salvador reported on 28 October
that the junta's control of the government continued to appear firm
and he noted a widespread feeling among both civilians anolthe military
that no countercoup would be attempted. He added, however, that
a force of 200 men, 25 staff officers, and sufficient arms and am-
munition were available in the capital for use by the dissidents,
and even an abortive attempt to oust the present government could
result in considerable bloodshed.
The alleged countercoup plans of the military group possibly
are connected with recent indications that the new Salvadoran Gov-
ernment may be more tolerant of leftist activities than its pred-
ecessor was. On 27 October a number of exiled Communists and
pro-Communists�including such figures as Jorge Shafik Handall,
a well-known Communist in the national university in 1957, and
Juan Jose Vides, a Salvadoran Communist party official in 1956�
were permitted to return to El Salvador. In commenting on 28 Oc-
tober about a series of new appointments by the junta of leftists
to high positions in the government, the US Embassy described the
move as further strengthening "the far-left, pro-Castro tinge of
the new government"
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THE PRESIDENT
The Vice President
Executive Offices of the White House
Special Assistant for National Security Affairs
Scientific Adviser to the President
Director of the Budget
Director, Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization
Director, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Special Assistant for Security Operations Coordination
Chairman, Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities
Special Assistant for Foreign Economic Policy
Executive Secretary, National Security Council
The Treasury Department
The Secretary of the Treasury
The Department of State
The Secretary of State
The Under Secretary of State
The Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
The Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
The Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration
The Counselor
Director, International Cooperation Administration
The Director of Intelligence and Research
The Department of Defense
The Secretary of Defense
The Deputy Secretary of Defense
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
The Secretary of the Army
The Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Air Force
The Chairman, The Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Director, The Joint Staff
Chief of Staff, United States Army
Chief of Naval Operations, United States Navy
Chief of Staff, United States Air Force
Commandant, United States Marine Corps
4Assistant to Secretary of Defense for Special Operations
Director for Intelligence, The Joint Staff
Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Department of Army
Director of Naval Intelligence, Department of Navy
Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Department of the Air Force
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Commander in Chief, Pacific
The Department of Commerce
The Secretary of Commerce
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Director
Atomic Energy Commission
The Chairman
National Security Agency
The Director
National Indications Center
The Director
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