CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/10/24

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03190618
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: October 24, 1957

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CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
24 October 1957
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DOC,I.JMENT NO.
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DATE/0
NO.
_. REVIEWER:
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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CONTENTS
1. SOVIET MARSHAL ROKOSSOVSKIY TO COMMAND TRANS-
CAUCASUS (page 3).
2. ISRAELI VIEW OF EGYPTIAN TROOP MOVEMENT TO
SYRIA (page 4).
3. POLITICAL UNREST IN JORDAN
&IL 4. SITUATION IN LAOS
(page 6).
(page 5).
5. CZECH REGIME CRACKS DOWN ON "HOOLIGANS"
(page 7).
6, GUATEMALAN ARMY NULLIFIES 20 OCTOBER PRESI-
DENTIAL ELECTION (page 8).
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1. SOVIET MARSHAL ROKOSSOVSKIY TO
COMMAND TRANSCAUCASUS
Comment on:
Soviet Marshal Konstantin Rokossovskiy,
former Polish defense minister and most
recently deputy defense minister of the
USSR, has been appointed commander of
the Transcaucasus Military District, which
borders Turkey and Iran. He replaces Army General Fedyunin-
skiy who was recalled to Moscow, according to a 23 October
broadcast from Tbilisi.
The appointment of a Soviet marshal known
by the West to be a competent field commander may be intended
to demonstrate Soviet determination to support Syria. Only
four of the USSR's 18 military districts had been commanded
by marshals. The Transcaucasus Military District is one of
the smallest, normally garrisoned by two armies of four divi-
sions each, and commanded by an army general. Because of
its proximity to the Middle East, it ma now warrant a com-
mander of Rokossovskirs stature.
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2. ISRAELI VIEW OF EGYPTIAN TROOP MOVEMENT
TO SYRIA
Israeli political circles interpret the
landing of Egyptian forces in Syria
as an indication of the submissiveness
of Egypt and Syria to orders from Mos-
cow
The Soviet plan, in
the Israeli view, is to create in Syria a police force suitable
either for maintaining the "new order" within Syria or for en-
tering a neighboring Arab country which allegedly might be
threatened by "a Western aggressor." Israel does not believe
that the USSR will undertake anything against Turkey or that
the Syrian army, even if reinforced by Egypt, is capable of
seriously threatening the Turks.
This analysis is in line with a statement
on 21 October by Prime Minister Ben-Gurion that "it is no
longer local forces but mainly powerful external forces that
are aggravating tension in the region."
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3. POLITICAL UNREST IN JORDAN
Cotnment on:
The government of Jordan is seeking to
turn the recent resignation of six oppo-
sition deputies to its advantage during
the next two months by having more co-
perative legislators elected to replace
hem. Operating under martial law, the
ashim-Rifai government should be able
o force the election of the government's
andi dates, despite popular opposition.
Subsequently, the government plans to introduce a new elec-
tion law designed to make possible the election of a still more
cooperative legislature.
A new cabinet shake-up on 22 October
suggests that the government is preparing stiffer internal
controls to counter popular hostility. Interior Minister
Madadha has relinguished his duties as military governor
general and minister of defense in order to concentrate on
combating subversion; Army Chief of Staff General Majalli
has assumed the additional post of military governor general;
and Akif Fayiz, only cabinet representative of the militant
�Bedouin whose support ensures King Hussayn's control of the
army, has become minister of defense as well as minister of
agriculture.
Jordan also continues to be plagued by its
inability without outside financial assistance to maintain its
army, which alone keeps the King's pro-Western regime in
power. Saudi Arabia's postponement of subsidy payments has
compelled the minister of finance to request an immediate
emergency advance payment of $3,000,000 from US aid allo-
cations in order to meet 25 October payroll and operating re-
quirements of the Jordanian army.
To divert public attention from these diffi-
culties, the Jordanians are against complaining to the UN
about Israeli activities in the contested Jerusalem area.
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4, SITUATION IN LAOS
Comment on:
Nero
Laotian government and Pathet Lao
negotiators have signed an agreement
setting forth the details for re-estab-
lishing royal authority over the two
Pathet-held provinces and forming a
coalition government, according to an
official broadcast on 22 October. This
development moves the two sides closer
to final settlement, and implements the intention of the as-
yet-unpublished communique agreed on by Prime Minister
Souvanna Phouma and Pathet leader Souphannouvong.
While details of the agreement reached
by the negotiators have not yet been published, the royal
government's original bargaining position already contained
major concessions. It envisioned a 50-50 division between
Pathet and royal administrative and technical functionaries
and the retention, at least temporarily of the village "people's
representatives." The agreement, therefore, probably places
the Pathets in a good position to frustrate government orders
at the grass-roots level.
In preparation for the settlement, the
National Assembly has already enacted both a civil liberties
law and an amnesty demanded by the Pathets. The assembly
has also enacted a law aimed at restricting future Pathet sub-
versive activity, but strict enforcement of the law is problemat-
ical.
Souvanna plans to enlarge the present six-
man cabinet on 25 October, but has assured American officials
that Pathet representatives will not be included at this time.
He anticipates that a coalition government will be established
in early November. He appears to have seized the initiative
while the restraint previously exercised by conservative ele-
ments led by Interior Minister Katay is conspicuously absent.
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5, CZECH REGIME CRACKS DOWN ON "HOOLIGANS"
Comment on:
Czechoslovak Minister of Interior Rudolf
Barak publicly charged on 21 October
that a recent increase in youthful "hooli-
ganism" is subversive and implied that
members of Western diplomatic missions
had played a role in its organization.
A street brawl in Prague on the night of
12-13 October resulting from the arrest of two drunken sol-
diers apparently precipitated a country-wide roundup of youths
regarded as potential troublemakers. A Prague newspaper
reported on 22 October that 105 youths had been arrested in
Prague, and added that police had identified 344 gangs com-
posed of over 2,000 hooligans throughout the country.
High-level government action against un-
disciplined youth was probably prompted by fear of a repeti-
tion in Czechoslovakia of the Warsaw student demonstrations
of early October. Allegations of Western influences are in
line with other accusations of espionage and sabotage which
the Czechs have directed against the NATO nations since Sep-
tember.
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6, GUATEMALAN ARMY NULLIFIES 20 OCTOBER
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Comment on:
Late on 23 October, the Guatemalan
army under Defense Minister Colonel
Juan F. Oliva, ordered the 20 October
presidential election nullified, Oliva
acted under strong pressure from army
colleagues, some of whom are demand-
ing that a military junta rule the country,
and after violent popular demonstrations
and a growing general strike protesting
what defeated presidential candidate Ydigoras Fuentes claimed
to be a rigged election,
Oliva is concerned with possible adverse
United States reaction to his move and seems anxious to re-
tain a semblance of constitutionality, stopping short of an out-
and-out military coup, Reportedly, interim president Luis
Arturo Gonzalez is to remain the figurehead president until
new elections can be called in the indefinite future, Army
pressure for a military junta may, however, prove irresisti-
ble, In any event, Oliva is likely to remain the strong man
and the government firmly anti-Communist, though probably
moving closer to the political right.
Ydigoras, who claimed to have been de-
frauded of victory in the 20 October election by the adminis-
tration political machine, won overwhelming support from the
country's urban, politically conscious minority. The adminis-
tration candidate, Miguel Ortiz Passarelli, won a majority of
the votes only by virtue of the control of the government ma-
chine over illiterate Indian voters in rural areas.
24 Oct 57
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