SITUATION IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (REPORT #284 - AS OF 7:00 AM EDT)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00472A001400050034-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 20, 2006
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: June 22, 1965
• Content Type: IM

Approved For Reisase 2007/03/06 CRET CIA-RDP79T00472AQW400050034-2
OCI No. 1958/65 099
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Office of Current Intelligence
22 June 1965
INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
Situation in the Dominican Republic
(port r ." ._o :D0-arn D-- -
Dominican workers failed to respond in significant
numbers on the first day of what was to be a three-day
general strike in support of the rebel cause.
Reports from all major population centers indicate
that support for the strike call was limited yesterday
to the employees of six or seven of the 40-odd indus-
trial firms in the northern portion of Santo Domingo and
the workers of the big sugar complex at La Romana, which
is owned by US interests. There was apparently no
response at all in the important cities of the north
central valley area where extremists had been reported
planning to escalate the strike into a general uprising.
It is still possible that strike momentum may pick
up today and tomorrow, but the US Embassy felt last
night that the indications did not appear to be pointing
in that direction. The embassy ascribed the limited
worker response to a general weariness with the con-
tinued crisis, the workers' need for cash, and the pre-
cautionary countermeasures carried out by the Imbert
government.
The country's largest labor federation made it
clear from the beginning that it would not support the
strike and the strike call was issued over the names
of two small labor groups: the one controlled by the
radical faction of the Revolutionary Social Christian
Party and another nominally controlled by Bosch's
Dominican Revolutionary Party but actually led by radi-
cal leftists. The actual backers of the strike move-
ment were revealed in the inflammatory broadcasts
yesterday over the extremist-controlled rebel radio.
State Dept. review completed
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Some of the more blatant statements carried by the
rebel radio yesterday were outright calls for revolu-
tionary uprisings: "The workers are called on to lead
the direct revolutionary struggle of the masses,"
"immediate delivery of land to the peasants," and the
strike is against "brutal military intervention (of
US troops) who murdered more than 5,000...."
Failure of the strike effort to pick up signifi-
cant support would be a serious blow to the rebel,
cause. Virgilio Mainardi, prominent member of Bosch's
party, is quoted in the press as declaring early yes-
terday that "we interpret this strike as a demonstra-
tion of support of the constitution." Juan Bosch
himself is reliably reported to have been angered by
the decision to make the strike effort, which he
apparently foresaw would fail and in so doing further
weaken the rebel cause.
25X1
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Meanwhile, the Caamano government is expected
today to transmit to the special OAS committee its
formal "answer" to the OAS proposals of last Friday.
A Caamano spokesman is reported by the press to have
revealed that the Caamano regime has drafted its
counter-proposals with the intention of presenting
these to the committee later today.
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