NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A027300010026-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 15, 2006
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: January 3, 1975
• Content Type: REPORT

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National 1 ntel l igence
Bulletin
DIA review(s) completed.
Top Secret
January 3, 1975
~? X54
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I~lational Intelligence Bulletin
JarYUary 3, 1975
CONTENTS
LATIN AMERICA: Relations with US suffer. (.Page 1)
SOUTH__VIETNAM: The military situata~on. (Page 9)
CHINA: Two civilians named to top provincial party posts
once held by military officers. (Pa.ge 12)
EC-IRAN: Preferential trade agreement opposed by most
EC members. (Page 14)
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[elational Intelligence Bulletin January 3, 1975
LATIN AMERICA
With the next meeting of the ~iemisphere?s foreign
ministers just over twa months away, the Latin Ameri-
cans are growing less and less receptive to inter-
American dialogue with the US.
One of the carrots that sustained Latin American
faith in the eventual productiveness of the hemispheric
talks, the US Trade Reform Act, has now become a stick
in Latin eyes. Many governments have denounced the
inclusion--in the final version of the bill--of restric-
tions against members of OPEC and other cartels,
Ecuador has announced that it will not attend the
Buenos Aires meeting in March if the legislation be-
comes effectiver President Rodriguez probably will lobby
for a boycott, especially on the part of Venezuela, a
fellow OPEC member, and Me~xico? which is bidding for OPEC
membership p. Venezuelan President Ferez has complained
that developed nations are calling for a dialogue while
"'threatening" less fortunate countries, Government-
influenced media in Panama. and Peru have protested the
trade bill as a violation of US commitments to Latin
America,
Trade is but one of many sources of growing fric-
tions. The US continues to be under heavy criticism
over numerous other economic issues and over political
issues, such as the sanctions against Cuba and CIA's
clandestine activities. Restrictions on US firms abroad
exporting to Cuba can have serious effects on relations
with particular governmentso Mexico, for example, has
been pressuring US companies to participate in Mexican-
sponsored trade missions to Cubaa In Argentina, a
congressman is calling for an investigation of CIA activ-
ities and for the expulsion of all CIA agents, This
kind of problem may spread after the publication of the
Spanish version of a book by former CIA employee Philip
Agee,
Editorials from usually friendly Uruguay also have
been critical, claiming that the "famous new dialogue
has shown to be totally nonproducticre.?' Talk in
? l ._
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National Intelligence Bulletin
January ;3, 1975
Montevideo and other capitals has begun to question the
value of having both a meeting of foreign ministers in
March and an OAS General Assembly the following month.
Various governments have emphasized the ?'noninstitutional"
aspects of the foreign ministers? sessions and suggested
that the more formal OAS should be beefed up as a more
enduring vehicle for inter-American cooperation.
The overall feeling among Latin Americans of in-
creasing distance from the US probably will make alter-
native cooperation efforts more attractiveo Venezuela
and Mexico, for example, have begun to make-some prog-
ress in combating the skepticism that first met their
call for a Latin American economic system excluding the
US. Various Latin American summits have taken place
recently and more are scheduled for 1975, all aimed at
unifying ,Latin America and increasing Latin pressure on
the US@
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Military Region 3
eIN H 'AUONG
_/
"-'-~ PHpOC TUY
`CAPITAL SPECIAL
ZONE
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National Intelligence bulletin ~anuarX 3, 1975
k'ighting in northern Military Region 3 remains
heavy, although the level of combat elsewhere in South
Vietnam is light.
In Phuoc Long Province, all four district capitals
have fallen to North Vietnamese forces, and the outlook
for the provincial capital of Phuoc Binh-sometimes re-
ferred to as Song Be~~is bleak. The government so far
has given no evidence of an intention to reinforce the
garrison there. If captured, it would be the first
provincial capital lost to the Communists since the
cease-fire.
?I'he district towns lost so far have been in sparsely
populated, outlying -areas where the government has con-
trolled only the towns and the immediate environs. For
the most part, their loss does not represent a signifi-?
.cant expansion of territorial control by the Communists,
although the loss of a provincial capital would be a
psychological blow to the South Vietnamese.
Government forces elsewhere are experiencing some
successo Regional forces on Ba Den Mountain in Tay
Ninh Province were resupplied in late December, assuring
continued government control of this key terrain feature
and communications facility, although the situation
remains serious.
In Military Region 4, recent government operations
are reported to have inflicted heavy casualties on
Communist forces. The operations probably will nat
recapture much lost territory, but the use of mobile
regional forces in conjunction with regular army units
should further the government's aim of making more
PffPrtive use of its territorial forces.
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National Intelligence Bulletin January 3, 1975
CHINA
Peking continues to move civilians into top provin-
cial party posts once held by military officers. The Chi-
nese have made known new appointments in Fukien and Kiangsi.
They are. the fourth and fifth provincial vacancies filled
in the last year and leave only three provinces without
a publicly identified party le