WORLD REACTION TO THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY 23 NOV 1963 (INFORMATION AS OF 0700 EST)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00429A001400010019-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 17, 2009
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: November 23, 1963
• Content Type: MEMO

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,.. TOP SECRET
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
:AWWr0LH----1
WORLD REACTION TO
THE ASSASSINATION OF
PRESIDENT KENNEDY
23 Nov 1963
(Information as of 0700 EST)
State Department
review completed
TOP SECRET.
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23 November 1963
WORLD REAAQT{[?IJN TO THE ASSASSINATION
OF' PRESIDENT KENNEDY
(Information as of 0700 EST)
The governments and the peoples of the world aie
expressing, from East and West alike, their shock
and regret at the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy.
Some governmental reaction has reflected con-
cern over the impact the President's death may. have
on intern ,tional re.itts ;toa;--with Latin Americans, for
example, wondering whether the Alliance for Progress
may lose some of its impetus. Some African leaders
noted President Kennedy's strong leadership for
racial equality. The immediate reaction of TASS
yesterday was to attribute the death to American
right-extremists.
The scheduled joint US-Japanese economic and
trade talks were perforce cancelled when the Cabinet-
level US delegation ordered its plane home a short
distance out of Honorl!iai:u. West German Chancellor
Erhard has cancelled his scheduled visit to Washing-
ton. He was to have left Sunday. The UN observed
a moment of silence yesterday and adjourned.
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SING-SOVIET ORBI~
Moscow promptly reported President Kennedy's assas-
sinat ono its foreign as well as domestic audiences.
Soviet reaction sofar has been highlighted by broadcasts
of official condolences at the highest level. Khrushchev
and Brezhnev, the official Soviet head of state, have
sent wires to President Johnson expressing heartfelt s'ji
sympathy to the American people for the loss suffered by
the "heinous assassination," Foreign Minister Gromyko
also sent a telegram to Secretary Rusk. In an unusual
gesture, Khrushchev and Madame Khrushchev wired personal
condolences to Mrs. Kennedy.
Pravda reportedly remade its frontpage of 23 Novem-
ber to carry a column and a half of biographic informa-
tion on the late President, together withaa two-column
picture. Pravda recalls his speech of last June at Ameri-
can University as marking a new, favorable phase in US-
Soviet relations. Pravda also carried a TASS report not-
ing that Dallas commentators "are linking this crime with
the activity of ultrarightwing organizations." President
Kennedy's steps in the direction of improving the interna-
tional situation are said to have met with "sharp attacks
from the American wildmen."
Khrushchev returned to Moscow from the Ukraine and,
accompanied by Gromyko, went to the American Embassy to
pay his personal respects to Ambassador Kohler. This
gesture appears to have no precedent.
Moscow and other bloc media have so far avoided any
public mention of Oswald.
The US Embassy has reported that Oswald and family
had difficulty obtaining Soviet exit visas. When he ap-
peared at the embassy in the summer of 1961 seeking re-
patriation, Oswald stated that he was "disillusioned"
with the USSR. He claimed that he had never applied
for Soviet citizenship.
Moscow and satellite radios have apparently dropped
scheduled programming and featured solemn music inter-
spersed with news. Several East European leaders, includ-
ing Tito and Ulbricht, sent official condolences to Presi-
dent Johnson.
The news of Kennedy's death came too late for
Peiping's morning papers, but Peiping radio has carried
peWP reports z-f the assassination .
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Expressions of dismay and sympathy came from
virtually every government and political leader in
Western Europe. Everywhere periods of mourning
and memorial services have been announced, and
flags will be flown at half staff. Communist party
leaders joined in the lament over the President's
passing.
The British royal court will go into mourning
for a week? aka national commemoration service
will be held. Queen Elizabeth sent messages to
Mrs. Kennedy and to President Johnson, and Prime
Minister Douglas-Home cabled Johnson his assurances
of friendship and support. Sir Winston Churchill
said 'that the act had "taken from us a great states-
man and a wise and valiant man... Those who come
after Mr. Kennedy must strive the more to achieve
the ideals cif world peace and human happiness and
dignity to which his presidency was dedicated."
The London Times said the event was "a shock
great enougfio shake the structure of the world."
And it added, "Our hope in this moment must be
that the Vice President will quickly be able to lay
his hands on a helm that cannot be left unheld even
for a moment."
Canadian Prime Minister Pearson told the Com-
mons E1 i 1 The world can ill afford at this time
to lose a man of his courage."" opposition leader
Diefenbaker echoed this sentiment.
In France, President De Gaulle, said, "Presi-
dent Kenns died like a soldier under fire,
doing his duty in the service of his country. In
the name of the French people, as always a friend
of the American people, I salute this great ex-
Ample and this great memory."
West German Chancellor Erhard, whose trip to
the is cance led, will hold a special meeting
ofi.the Cabinet on Sunday in commemoration of the
President.
More than 60,000 West Berliners stood
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silently in the rain before the city hall as the
Freedom Bell tolled. Mayor Brandt observed,"America
has lost its President and a tortured mankind has
lost a man of whom so many people believed that
he would show the road toward a just peace and a
better life in the world." He added that Berlin
now put its confidence in President Johnson, who
came to Berlin a few days after the wall was built.
Adenauer observed that Kennedy "gave his life
for freedom and peace. I know that all-Germans
share these sentiments."
Italian Christian Democratic leader Moro ex-
pressed his grief at the death "of the main archi-
tect of the courageous and renewing policy carried
out by the US the last few years."
Pope Paul today said a mass for the repose of
the PresidenUTs soul, and in a special broadcast,
voiced the hope that the death "may not do harm to
the American people, that it may strengthen their
moral and civil sense by reinforcing their senti-
ments of nobility and concord."
Dutch Premier Marijnen said the murder was a
disaster for international politics and would have
far-reaching consequences.
The conservative Svenska Dagbladet in Stockholm
wrote that "The mourning for Kennedy is so great
he was in many respects ahead of his time."
The Washington correspondent of the Swedish radio
reported that the style, tactics, and political
climate in Washington will undergo a change, and
wondered how it woutld effect the interplay between
East and West.
On the radio, Norwegian Premier Gerhardsen re-
marked that "In a strange way we felt secure with
President Kennedy in the high and important post he
held. We trusted him, and we believed in his de-
sire for justice and peace, as well as in his ability
to smooth international disputes."
The Portuguese radio said that Presideit'Kennedy
had recently taken a special interest in Portuguese
affairs, discussing the problem of African colonies
with Foreign Minister Nogueira and praising the role
of the Azores in Operation Big Lift.
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25X1
Irish President De Valera twice broke down
from emo ?on as he addressed his nation on tele-
vision. "Our consolation is that he died in a
noble cause, and we pray that God will give the
US another such leader."
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LATIN AMERICA
Most Latin American governments have declared
one or more days of mourning in homage to President
Kennedy, reflecting in part the widespread public
and official sympathy--and concern--throughout the
area arising from?.his death. The leaders in vari-
ous countries have emphasized Kennedy's special,in-
terest in Latin America and his effort to promote
the Alliance for Progress.
Venezuelan President Betancourt dedl:ared that.
"Latin Ame cri loses the United States President
who has made the greatest efforts toward solution
of its economic,and social problems," a comment which
was reiterated ini.isimilar form by other political
leaders in this country. The Chilean Foreign Minis-
ter pointed out that Kennedy ha sown "special con-
cern for the situation of the people of Latin America"
and had attempted to promote "the improvement of their
social and economic conditions." In addition to not-
ing Kennedy's "vision of a better future for Latin,
America" through the Alliance for Progress, the Pana-
manian Foreign Minister specifically commented on Tie
President's "clear understanding of Panama's problems."
President Oswaldo Lopez of Honduras, with whom
the United States suspended diplomatelations fol-
lowing the recent military coup in that country, was
among the chiefs of state who declared days of offi-
cial mourning and expressed sympathy for the "irrepara-
ble loss." No reaction is yet available from the de
facto military-civilian regime in the Dominican Repub-
lic, with which the'United States also suspended re a-
Ens recently.
The Cuban radio has treated the development in
factual terms and no officials of the Castro regime
have thus far made comments.
Communist elements in the hemisphere have not yet
reacts to the death of Presidett. Kennedy. Senator Sal-
vador Allende, extreme leftist leader of the Socialist
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Party of Chile, who is pro-Communist and pro-Castro,
expressed his sympathy and recognized Kennedy's
"stand against threat of war and in. behalf of
peace..." Allende was the runner-up presidential
candidate of the Communist-Socialist Popular Action
Front in 1958 and will probably be its candidate in
the elections scheduled for 1964.
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ASIA AND AFRICA
Aside from expressions of shock and sorrow, the
despatch of condolences, and the institution of'vari-
ous forms of mourning, there has as yet been little
significant comment from the capitals of Asia and
Africa.
In the Near East, the Turkish President and
Premier both emphasized President ennedy"'s fight for
peace, and they stressed US-Turkish solidarity. The
Premier of Israel called the President it "firi'friehd of
Israel." President Nasser of Egypt described the late
President as struggling for his people, for peace, and
for humanity. The Shah of Iran ordered all flags in
the country to be flown ate staff.
In India, both President Radhakrishnan and Prime
Minister e ru were "deeply shocked." The Pakistani
Foreign Minister called Mr. Kennedy "a courageous; and
dedicated leader who cherished the ideals of progres-
sive thought with unwavering conviction,"
In Southeast Asia, Cambodia declared a period of
national mourning. Indonesian President Sukarno said
President Kennedy had been striving for the growth of
the American state. Philippine President Macapagal,
who will'attend the President's funeral, said the Presi-
dent had "put new firmness in the struggle against tom-
munis m and the advancement of freedom and equality as
a way of life for all mankind."
In Japan, the Foreign Ministry held an emergency
conference to study measures to be taken by that coun-
try.. Prime Minister Ikeda, in a message to President
Johnson, commented on the late President's success in
implementing "vigorous policies," Commentary from
South Korea stressed Mr. Kennedy's efforts on behalf
of vok1d peace and the solidarity of the Free World in
the struggle against communism, and condemned political
terrorism as "the enemy of democracy."
In Africa, the Presidents of Algeria and Senegal
both suggested" that the assassinat o n was the re;su
of President Kennedy's efforts in the field of deseg-
regation. The President of Senegal stated "We Afri-
can.Negroes will mourn for him because he worked for
our dignity."
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