SITUATION IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (REPORT #280 - AS OF 7:00 AM EDT)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00472A001400050030-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 20, 2006
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: June 18, 1965
• Content Type: IM

Approved For Rase 2007/?53KRf1F-RDP79T00472App.1400050030-6
OCI No, 1953/65 099
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Office of Current Intelligence
18 June 1965
Situation in the Dominican Republic
TReport 8 - As T_77. ?3U am EDT _
The special OAS committee plans today to submit
to the Dominican people its proposals for the settle-
ment of the crisis, a move that is likely to prompt
initial opposition from both Dominican governments,
but particularly from the rebels.
Nevertheless, resistance to the plan in the
rebel camp is likely to be weakened by the deteriorat-
ing morale there that has set in since the upsurge in
fighting began last Tuesday.
25X1
There are widespread rumors in the rebel area of
disagreements between the two top rebel leaders, Caamano
State Dept. review completed
Approved For Relea 00472A001400050030-6
- MUM?
 Approved For Ri~ase 2007/03/0!;M/gp'P79T00472AQ1400050030-6
and Colonel Manuel Montes Arache. There is also
said to be a growing restlessness among the older
people in the rebel area because of the restrictions
placed on. them by the rebel authorities. These
people are also said to be openly critical of Caamano,
and other rebel leaders whose families are safe in
the International Safety Zone. (Caamano's wife, for
instance, has been safe in the Argentine embassy
since the first days of the insurrection.)
Non-Communist adherents of the rebel cause are
now speaking in less hopeful terms. For instance,
Manuel Fernandez, the Caamano-appointed mayor of
Santo Domingo, broadcast on the rebel radio yesterday
a short speech in which he admitted the possibility
of defeat. He spent most of his time denying allega-
tions that he is a Communist. He repeated the bitter
rebel charges of US "aggression" on Tuesday and con-
cluded with the statement: "We may lose our father-
land, but the Yankees have definitely lost the right
to speak for democracy."
Jose Francisco Pena Gomez, a leading member of
Juan Bosch's Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), is
reported to have said on Wednesday night that the
rebels "will have to give in" on some of their earlier
demands. Pena Gomez, who has been the most prominent
PRD spokesman in the rebel leadership, added that
the rebels had thus far been uncompromising in their
statements to the OAS committee because "any expression
of willingness to negotiate would have made the Ameri-
cans want to get a great deal more."
Yesterday morning, the rebel radio, amid its
customary declarations of the rebel intention to fight
to the end against the "aggression," carried a state-
ment that the rebel government is nevertheless willing
to "swallow its tears" and proceed to negotiate.
In dramatic contrast to the heavy rebel military
action initiated on Tuesday, yesterday there were only
two reported instances of firing from rebel territory.
In neither instance were inter-American forces obliged
to return the fire. Early yesterday morning the rebel
radio had been heard advising rebel fighters to hold
their positi.-is and maintain the ceasefire.
Approved For Release
 Approved For Rase 2007/03/O p t F P79T00472AW1400050030-6
US military personnel manning a checkpoint on
the border of the rebel zone report that during a
three and a half hour period yesterday when Dominicans
were moving through the checkpoint; about 2,000
civilians had come out of rebel territory and about
1,200 had gone into the area. Many civilians were
making repeat trips to remove personal belongings from
the rebel area.
There were, however, some efforts by rebel
authorities to prevent free access out of rebel ter-
ritory yesterday. An official of the OAS Human
Rights Commission who is now in Santo Domingo told
US Embassy officers yesterday that he had observed
Caamano forces denying people egress from the rebel
zone. He described the Caamano action as "building
a Berlin wall." Several newsmen reported similarly
to the embassy, adding that they were the only people
allowed in and out of the area freely.
25X1
There has as yet been no reported response in
the interior of the country this week to extremist
calls for countrywide uprisings. Nevertheless, hard-
line militants probably still hope for such action.
25X1
Meanwhile, on the international scene, the rebel
government is still calling for action by the United
Nations. In two messages received at UN headquarters
yesterday, the Caamano regime bitterly blasted the
United States for "aggression" and formally reiterated
its desire that the Dominican case should "pass entirely
under the aegis of the United Nations." The UN Security
Council is scheduled to meet this afternoon.
25X1
Approved For Release 2A001400050030-6