CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A000100260001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 6, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 8, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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8 March 1951
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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
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DATEI?._.'i REVIEWER
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Office of Current. Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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State Department review completed
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SUMMARY
NEAR EAST
4. Reactions to the assassination of Premier Razmara (page 5)e
LATIN AMERICA
6. Brazilian Foreign Office requests delay in Eximbank loan for man-
ganese development (page 6).
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NEAR EAST
4. Reactions to the assassination of Premier Razmara:
the Shah, while naming Khalil Fahimi to head a caretaker government,
has offered the premiership to Hussein Ala, formerly Iranian ambas-
sador to the US. An Israeli broadcast from Jerusalem has stated that
martial law has been declared throughout Iran.
Comment. During his tenure of office, Premier
Razmara aroused considerable opposition. Old guard elements in Iranian-
politics and conservative Moslem groups opposed his program of economic
reform. The pro-Soviet Tudeh Party resisted his vigorous measures to
control subversive elements throughout Iran, British interests associated
with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company became impatient at his failure to
secure ratification of the supplementary Anglo-Iranian oil agreement,
The Shah, while depending on Razmara for a successful program of eco-
nomic reform, was known to be apprehensive over the growth of Razmara's
popularity.
Razmara's death is likely to lead to increased
parliamentary instability, governmental confusion and internal tension.
Under an ineffective premier, Iran will be more vulnerable to Soviet
pressure, to the infiltration of Soviet agents and to internal dissension
inspired by the Tudeh Party. Furthermore, without Razmara, the suc-
cess of a program of economic reform is endangered.
The new acting Premier, Khalil Fahimi, who
is a member of the old guard group and a recently appointed minister-
without -portfolio, will prove to be less effective than Razmara in
dealing with current problems. Hussein Ala is known for his under-
standing of the US and sympathy for US policies. He may be reluctant
to accept the responsibilities of the premiership, however, because of
his age and ill health.
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LATIN AMERICA
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6. Brazilian Foreign Office requests delay in Eximbank loan for manganese
development:
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An official of the Brazilian Foreign
Office has requested that the Export-
Import Bank temporarily delay action
on the loan application for Sobramil, the company owned jointly by US
Steel and the Chamma family of Brazil, for the exploitation of the vast
Urucum manganese deposits in Mato Grosso. The official stated that
the application is under detailed study by the Brazilian National Se-
curity Council because the validity of the Chamma concession from the
State of Mato Grosso is being questioned; furthermore, some members
of the Council consider that, since the concession is located in a front:12r
zone, approval by both state and federal governments is required. The
official added that the problem is an entirely domestic one arising in
connection with Brazilian law.
Comment: The manganese deposit in
the Chamma concession, which is believed to contain 33 million tons of
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manganese, is the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The Brazilian
Constitution does not expressly require that such concessions have the
approval of state governments.
Although the military members of the
Brazilian National Security Council have continued to favor transporting
the manganese ore by rail (in order to obtain US improvement of the
railroad across southern Brazil), the Eximbank loan provides for the
construction of facilities for transporting the ore by barge down the
Paraguay-Parana River to a deep-water port. This desire on the part
of the Brazilian military is a possible reason for the delay in the loan
application. The delay might also indicate that Brazil intends to use
the US need for manganese as a bargaining point at the meeting of the
Inter-American Foreign Ministers this month.
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