REACTIONS ABROAD TO VIETNAM PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS IN THE US

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CIA-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8
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December 14, 2016
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July 23, 2003
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5
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October 26, 1965
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SECRET -~;,. Approve~'or Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 OCI No. 2339/65 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENence Office 26 October igt6511ig INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM Reactions Abroad to Vietnam Protest Demonstrations in the US SUMMARY 1. In general, demonstrations against US Vietnam policy abroad on 15-16 October were less extensive than anticipated. In Western Eurobut there were a number lightch InmLatinaAmerica, attendance was very onse and in Asia and Africa there was minimal resp virtually none. Reports from these areas are sum- marized in Annex A. 2. No demonstrations were reported from ress, however, Communist countries. Thcoveragelto phe demonstra- gave the expected heavy bons in the United States. These activities are summarized in Annex B. State Dept. review completed Approved For Release 2003/Q>~1,,:~Lq~DP79T00472A000600030005-8 SECRET ~ ApprovetF.G~br Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79ToQ472A000600030005-8 EUROPE United Kingdom Left-wing and pacifist groups carried out their plans to demonstrate against US actions in Vietnam, but the results were only a pale reflec- tion of previous efforts such as the Easter marches sponsored by the Committee of 100. The US Embassy in London reported that the maximum number of demonstrators at the embassy at any one time was 800. The Committee of 100's rally in Trafalgar Square was reported by the press as a quiet and uneventful affair, with speakers receiv- ing only polite applause. The London press gave the UK demonstrations only moderate coverage with no pictures. However, the Times and Guardian did give heavy front-page play to the demonstrations in the US, with Alstair Cooke reporting demonstrations "on a bigger scale than any since the war." Canada As expected, demonstrations of Canadian stu- dents centered in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto. The number of participants was small. The US Embassy in Ottawa was picketed by 15 "youngsters" representing Carleton University"s Vietnam Day Committee. One hundred twenty-five students from McGill University and Sir George William University attended a Montreal rally pro- testing American action. Former premier Cheddi Jagan of British Guiana addressed the gathering, saying he had been refused entry to the US to speak to similar gatherings there. In Toronto an anti-US rally attracted 830 students--330 of whom were Americans. The dem- onstration was sponsored by eight predominantly leftist organizations, including the Young Com- munist League, Students United for Peace Action, and the Toronto International Vietnam Day Com- mittee. Approved For Release 20A~$d?,a ~,~,p-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 SECRET Approved~ir Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T0~472A000600030005-8 Scandinavia The demonstrations in the US inspired various groups in Scandinavia to similar activity, but this was limited to small groups of pro~hetpublico ap- peared to be generally ignored by In Stockholm on 16 October a group of some 80-100 demonstrators carrying placards protesting the use of gas and napalm were admitted to the US Embassy, where they presented a petition to a duty officer. Earlier that day, five members of the Communist-infiltrated "Swedish Vietnam Committee" were received by an embassy officer who accepted a relatively mild petition. The embassy notes that this particular group was composed of pacifists and ban-the-bombers. In Copenhagen some 50-60 demonstrators assem- bled quietly outside the US Embassy carrying signs and placards. The group dispersed after its rep- resentatives had presented the marine guard with a petition, supported by four left-wing and Communist groups, which reiterated the standard charges against the US. Reportedly a meeting on Vietnam will be held in Copenhagen on louthvgroup Studenter Samfundetlp of the left-wing y The Oslo police granted the Communist-front Norwegian Women's Federation permission to hold a two-hour demonstration outside the US Embassy on 15 October. This was an orderly gatheaceginhVietpamced candle-lit placards calling for "p outside the embassy premises. According to the New York correspondent of Sweden's largest newspaper, the Swedish Embassy in Washington has indicated that Prime Minister Erlander wishes to meet President Johnson during his trip to the US next month in order to explain the Swedish attitude on Vietnam. Belgium About 900 leftists demonstrated in Brussels on 1C~ October in protest agaia~.,:c :; criF~ US mili- tary effort in Vietnam. Most Belgian papers carried limited, inside-page news items on this demonstration Approved For Release 20~-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 SECRET Approver?for Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79TQ0472A000600030005-8 and those in the US. French-language TV gave sub- stantial pictorial coverage of the major demonstra- tions. Switzerland In response to an appeal put forth by the youth section of the Swiss Communist Party, 50 per- sons demonstrated in front of the American Consulate in Zurich. Counterdemonstrators introduced an ele- ment of confusion which made it difficult for ob- servers and passersby to determine who was for and against what. Press coverage of the incident was light, with all articles pointing to Communist sponsorship. Austria The student organization of the Austrian Com- munist Party distributed leaflets in the area of the University of Vienna urging support for the "days of protest" sponsored by the Berkeley committee. The appeal failed to provoke demonstrations over the week- end anywhere in Austria. Netherlands - Luxembourg There were no demonstrations in the Netherlands or Luxembourg. Some Luxembourg papers gave consider- able coverage to the demonstrations in the US, par- ticularly to the statements of the student who burned his draft card. West Germany The North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the Inter- national of War Resisters conducted a demonstration near the grounds of the US Embassy in Bonn on 15 the October. The demonstration was well monitored by local police and was reported to be orderly. In West Berlin the Free German Youth (FDJ), the Communist youth organization, failed to demonstrate on 15 and 16 October as it had originally planned. According to the US Mission in BerCommitteeFDJ had been contacted by the Vietnam Day The demonstrations in the US were covered factu- ally by the public media in West Germany, but there was little editorial comment. A-3 Approved For Release 20~-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 s~cx.ET Approve~l.`+or Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T~472A000600030005-8 Italy A "Rome University Committeero~~stnagainstothe Vietnam Day" organized a day of p in war in Vietnam for 16 October. The US Embassy Rome believes the "Rome Cothetltalian Communist Com- munist front organized by PCI) as part of the PCI propaganda effort on pa r.ty ( Committee's behalf of the American Vietnam Dayarticipation in activities. Notably absent from p these plans were the Nenni Socialists ~pST). The embassy has not reported on the results of planned demonstrations in Rome or elsewhere, but previous Italian Communist activities against US policy in Vietnam have received little popular support. There have been no indications that the Mora government believes the activities in connection intSoutheast Day will have any effect on US policy Asia, France -~ The government-controlled radio-TV and the French press, with the exception of L'HumanitC, gave the 15-16 October demonstrations of the Berkeley nDl5 prominent but factual treatment. AUnion~des Etudiants October organized by the left-wing de France was unexpectedly small, with only 500-600 students attending. Further demonstrations are possible, however, and French students reportedly are planning an "International University Week Against War in Vietnam" ?n There hasebeen no official1French with US students. reaction which would indicate that PainsVbetnames t e demonstrations will affect US policy Spain - Portugal As anticipated, no companion "Vietnam Day" dem- onstrations were reported in Spain or Portugal., T~ATIN AMERICA Efforts in Latin America to moun~otestbUS actions onstrations on 15 a.nd 16 Ocuob~~c~~spul. Students and in Vietnam were completely American citizens in a number of countries had received Approved For Release 200~~~~tDP79T00472A000600030005-8 SECRET Approved~r Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T(~`~72A000600030005-8 circulars from the "Committee for Vietnam Day" in Berkeley, California, and from a "Committee of Americans Abroad for an Honorable Foreign Policy," located in Santiago, Chile. Response to these appeals was triflingly small throughout the area. No activities of any sort were noted in several countries that had received the propaganda, including Brazil and Uruguay. In Uruguay, the lack of interest in Vietnam Day may be traceable to the preoccupation of those Uruguayans most likely to get involved in such activities with an internal politico-economic crisis. A similar preoccupation with domestic affairs may also have contributed to a lack of en- thusiasm for the project in other countries of the area. In Mexico--which like Uruguay had been braced for demonstrations of some significance--only a few students at the National University in Mexico City met on the Vietnam Day theme on 15 and 16 October. Evidently only about 50 students in all were in- volved, and their meetings were restricted to the campus. In Argentina, a few poorly attended meetings took place at the University of Buenos Aires. In Chile, two local Communist-front organizations called for a meeting on. Vietnam in Santiago on 15 October. Only about 20 people reportedly showed up, and the event was marked by a singular lack of en- thusiasm. In British Guiana, American-born pro-Communist leader Janet Jagan led ten demonstrators who picketed the US Consulate in Georgetown for a two-hour period on 16 October. No incidents were reported. ASIA-AFRICA The Berkeley appeal elicited virtually no rem sponse in the non-Communist countries of Asia-Africa. There was only spotty news coverage ,prior to the 15 October target date, and there have been no subse- quent reports of successful demonstrations. Some leftist and student organizations made plans to demonstrate, but these apparently collapsed for a Approved For Release 2~3L0~/21,:.~,1.44-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 SECRET Approved,,Eror Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T72A000600030005-8 variety of reasons related to local conditions. For example, Nigerian student and labor groups were ready to take action, but were denied government permission because of the unsettled aftermath of recent Nigerian elections, Students, includingTsa~me Americans, at the university in Dar es Salaam, zania, were also refused permission by President Nyerere?s office, possibly because Nyerere has been showing his best face to the West lately. In Japan, the leftists had been disappointed in the poor turn- out against the Korean-Japanese treaty on 12 October and were either unable or disinclined to try another show of strength. Approved For Release 20q.~~$l~ ~-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 SE ~'RE T Approver Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T72A000600030005-8 ANNEX B THE COMMUNIST BLOC Although the Berkeley organizers of the protest movement had claimed that sympathetic demonstrations would be held in many foreign countries including some behind the Iron Curtain, none in fact were staged in the Sino-Soviet bloc nations. These bloc countries, as expected, have energet- ically exploited the demonstrations in the US in their propaganda denouncing "US aggression" in Vietnam. The Soviet Union has asserted that US officials had been conducting a "brainwashing" campaign in an effort to combat growing criticism of US policy but are now compelled to recognize that the demonstra- tions "constitute a serious factor." Moscow claims that Washington has adopted "scare" and "witch-hunt" tactics to counter the protests. The claim by US organizers that sympathetic demonstrations would be held in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary did not materialize. These and the other East European countalanda~dCOVe~ageebutgnoecoordinated strations wide prop g theme was discernible in their commentaries. Communist China, North Vietnam, and North Korea also gave heavy propaganda play to the demonstrations in the US, As expected, they endea~rored to convey the impression of growing antagonism between the American public and Washington officialdom. Below are some representative samples of the propaganda statements of various Sino-Soviet bloc countries. "The unusually strong and wide scope of the pro- test demonstrations--millions of people have taken part in 'the last few days--has aroused serious con- cern among the ruling circles of the US and of other countries which support the aggressive US policy.... The authorities have started an extensive campaign of repression against 'the participants in the antiwar Approved For Release 20~~,Lp~AlC~~-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 SE CRE T Approveor Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T72A000600030005-8 demonstrations....The President fully approves of the measures planned by the Department of Justice... and an obviously inspired slander campaign against the participants has begun....One can see every sign of the beginning of a frantic witch hunt with the help of which American reaction intends to in- timidate and stifle the progressive forces of the country....It is difficult to make anybody believe that the 100,000 persons who participated in the latest antiwar demonstrations are being incited by the Communists. The movement against the aggressive US policy in Vietnam is rapidly gaining momentum...." "Americans Ashamed of America" was the head- line in the 18 October issue of Izvestia. "Wash- ington is alarmed," the article ec ared. "The purpose of the new witch hunting is to frighten opponents of the war in Vietnam. Washington is afraid of further growth of the antiwar movement." Eastern Europe East Germany's Neues Deutschland commented on 19 October that the American people were beginning to exercise their "right of co-determination" in foreign policy. It added that the escalation of fighting in Vietnam, of which President Johnson and "his sponsors" were proud, was now creating an escala- tion of conscience in the US. The Polish youth paper Sztandar Mlodych said that for the first time one cou~spe~al~-~~`an open political revolt" by the younger generation of Americans, but warned against overestimating the demonstrations' impact on US policy. However, it concluded that the demonstrations, coupled with world public opinion, might force the US to cease its aggression and commence negotiations. Czechoslovak and Yugoslav news commentaries mentioned the reaction in the US to the demonstra- tions. Whereas the Czechs saw a "rise of terror" and President Johnson's drawing closer to the right wing, the Yugoslavs gave a factual account of various events colored only by a reference to a "wave of protests" sweeping the US. Approved For Release 200~Q$/.2~RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 SECRET Approvef~r Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79TOII472A000600030005-8 FAR EASTERN COMMUNIST COUNTRIES Communist China Peking papers depicted a rising tide of protest throughout the US. An editorial in the autheroiletive People's Daily asserted that the "American p p ar--~~ronte~ with the real d~heeJohnsonladministra- ground war imposed on them by to take to tion," and portrayed the public as willing the streets "braving tear gas shells" so as to end "the aggressive war in Vietnam." Emphasis on a groundswell of popular dissent was a common element in most commentary broadcast from Peking over the past week. The demonstrations were depicted as honlnan taken place in all sections of the eOUleryfrom all unprecedented scale and involved p p walks of life." North Vietnam Hanoi propaganda exulted over the cu~a~singave of Vietnam protests in the US, lavishly p "the large-scale gatherings held coast to coastle of which demonstrated the "high tide of the strugg the US people" against the government's policy. News media reported that "tens of thousands" vigorously protested the war. ParointedlouN~t~ieDthelAmerican editorial on the 16th p !~ the "un.just" people are "realizing more clearly nature of the US attest betweentthetadCtionssofbtheh an identity of inter American demonstrators and the eressionoofttheVUSt namese peoples to resist 'the agg North Korea Reaction from Pyongyang was similar in tone and content to that from Peking and Hanoi. A com- mentary broadcast on 19 October claimed thatrece- "present large-scale antiwar movement is unp dented in the history of the US." An editorial in Nom g Sinmun the following day struck a similar note. Approved For Release 2003/Q~~,j~DP79T00472A000600030005-8 SECRET Approv~tlJ+~or Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79472A000600030005=8 Approved For Release 2~$/0~(21 r~A-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 STAApproved For Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 Next 1 Page(s) In Document Exempt Approved For Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8 Aaaroved..Eor Releas~ZUO~~/217CIA-RDP79T~472A000600030 05-8 26 October 1965 OCI No. 2339/65 Copy No.~t INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM REACTIONS ABTO~I~NS N THE USROTEST DEMON ~ DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE Office of Current Intelligence 25X1 Approved For Release 200~0~'8 ~RCDP79T00472A000600030005-8 Approved For Reuse 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T00472A600030005-& This Document contains information affecting the Na- tional Defense of the United States, within the mean- ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited. Approved For Release 2003/08/21 :CIA-RDP79T00472A000600030005-8