CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/08/30

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03169380
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: August 30, 1957

Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169380
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CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
DATE.
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c) (/
30 August 1957 '
Copy No
t
OFFICE OF OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This document contains classified information affecting
the national security of the United States within the
meaning of the espionage laws, US Code Title 18, Sections
793, 794, and 798. The law prohibits its transmission
or the revelation of its contents in any manner to an un-
authorized person, as well as its use in any manner
prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States
or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detri-
ment of the United States.
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CONTENTS
pe 1.� CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS PLANNING TO STEP
UP ANTIGOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES (page 3).
/I)
2. USSR REPORTED OFFERING AUSTRIA GENEROUS REDUC-
TION IN REPARATIONS DELIVERIES (page 4).
itio 3. SHARP DECLINE IN BRITAIN'S GOLD AND DOLLAR RE-
SERVES (page 5).
ole 4. GOMULKA REPORTED IN MOSCOW
(page 6).
Ole 5. NEW SHAKE-UP IN BULGARIAN LEADERSHIP INDICATED
(page 7).
ANNEX--Conclusions of the Watch Report of the Intelligence
Advisory Committee
(page 8).
30 Aug 57
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1. CUBAN REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS PLANNING TO
STEP UP ANTIGOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
Comment on:
Leaders of the "26th of July" movement,
the most active of the groups attempting
to oust Cuban President Batista, are con-
sidering assassination of certain cabinet
ministers and key police officials,
News that police have shot unarmed individuals and
hanged prisoners has leaked out despite press censorship and
may have incited the opposition to plan the assassinations in
retaliation.
sabotage, which
had subsided following the suspension of constitutional guaran-
tees on 1 August, is to be intensified in the near future,
a
group of civic leaders and businessmen who oppose the govern-
ment claim to have made good progress in subverting members
of the armed forces, traditionally the bulwark of the Batista re-
gimen There have been previous reports of dissatisfaction and
plotting within the armed forces.
30 Aug 57
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2. USSR REPORTED OFFERING AUSTRIA GENEROUS
REDUCTION IN REPARATIONS DELIVERIES
Austrian Chancellor Julius Raab reportedly
has been told by a special assistant he sent
to Moscow to sound out the Russians on rep-
arations deliveries that the USSR is prepared
to scale them down by 50 percent. Bulganin's "principal officer"
reportedly made this offer to Raab's emissary, who said Moscow
is asking nothing in return, but wishes to demonstrate to West-
ern Europe and in particular to West Germany that the Soviet
Union is not ungenerous and can be dealt with on a reasonable
basis.
Bulganin's unidentified spokesman is said to
have expressed a desire that Raab visit Moscow between 1.5 Oc-
tober and 15 November and asked whether "constitutionally it was
possible for the chancellor to come alone."
Comment There have been numerous reports from
Vienna this summer that Raab hoped to go
to Moscow this fall, presumably in connection with reparations
deliveries, and to go there alone-4.e., without Socialist Vice
Chancellor Pittermann. Raab is eager to exclude the coalition
Socialists from any part in the negotiations and to capitalize
politically on any concessions he may get. While Raab is strongly
anti-Communist, he has a reputation for overestimating his abil-
ity to "do business" with the Russians.
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3. SHARP DECLINE IN BRITAIN'S GOLD AND
DOLLAR RESERVES
Comment on:
Sharp August losses in the British gold
and dollar reserves are to be announced
on 3 September, according to a statement
made by British officials to the American
embassy. The embassy expects that, with the addition of
seasonal pressures, there will be a still further decline dur-
ing September to bring the reserves below the generally con-
sidered safe minimum of $2,000,000,000. On 31 July they
totaled $2,367,000,000.
The August losses are attributed to specu-
lation abroad against sterling, and to lags in purchases of
sterling in anticipation of its possible devaluation. Prevail-
ing British financial opinion seems convinced that sterling
difficulties spring largely from an underevaluation of the West
German mark.
Senior Treasury and Bank of England offi-
cials, trying to avoid further loss of confidence in sterling,
decided a few days ago not to resort at this time to available
credits with the International Monetary Fund and the US Export-
Import Bank. They have, however, expressed to the American
embassy the hope that after the 15 September German elections,
the US will consider a joint approach to the mark/pound rela-
tionship.
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4.44-4 N.44 NIL-4 I
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4. GOMULKA REPORTED IN MOSCOW
Comment on'
Polish Party First Secretary Wladyslaw
aomulka left Warsaw on 24 August for con-
sultations in the USSR,
tne cuscussions would deal with
further economic and ideological concessions to the Poles in
exchange for Polish recognition and support of Soviet leader-
ship in the field of international communism.
Gomulka may want to ascertain the latest
Soviet attitude toward Yugoslavia, as he reportedly plans to
visit Belgrade in September. Although Gomulka is known to op-
pose the re-establishment of a Cominform-type organization,
Soviet leaders may wish to explore the possibility of getting his
support for some loose organization which would more effectively
associate the Yugoslav party with other Communist parties.
Gomulka may also be seeking additional economic
aid as a means of bolstering the shaky Polish economy.
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5. NEW SHAKE-UP IN BULGARIAN LEADERSHIP INDICATED
The Bulgarian party newspaper on 27 August
printed an editorial similar to the 3 July
Pravda editorial which signaled the presid-
ium shake-up in Moscow. This suggests
that further high-level changes may occur
in Bulgaria. In the most urgent demand to date for party unity,
the Bulgarian editorial warned dissident elements against fur-
ther factional activities and threatened drastic disciplinary
measures against any "Communist...who destroys party unity
or who does not fulfill party decisions... regardless of his past
merits and posts."
These threats may indicate that a further
shake-up of the central committee is necessary to establish dis-
cipline and unity within the party. The editorial rules out any
return to the "cult of the individual" as exemplified by former
premier Chervenkov but promises harsher treatment to those
"who wished to change the struggle against the cult of the indi-
vidual for their personal antiparty purposes"--presumably the
Chankov faction expelled in July.
On the eve, of this warning,CPSU presidium
member Kirichenko and Chairman of the Ukrainian Council of
Ministers Kalchenko arrived in Bulgaria for a "vacation."
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ANNEX
Watch Report 369, 29 August 1957
of the
Intelligence Advisory Committee
Conclusions on Indications of Hostilities
On the basis of findings by its Watch Committee, the Intel-
ligence Advisory Committee concludes that:
A. No Sino-Soviet bloc country intends to initiate hostilities
against the continental US or its possessions in the imme-
diate future.
B. No Sino-Soviet bloc country intends to initiate hostilities
against US forces abroad, US allies or areas peripheral to
the orbit in the immediate future.
C. Although the deliberate initiation of hostilities in the Middle
East in the immediate future is unlikely, tensions stemming
from recent developments in Syria and unstable conditions,
particularly in Jordan, continue to create the possibilities
for conflict in the area.
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