LETTER OF INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00586R000300260016-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 21, 2013
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: August 29, 1966
• Content Type: MEMO

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29 August 1966
MEMORANDUM FOR: Bureau Chiefs
SUBJECT: Letter of Information
GENERAL
1. African Bureau Situation: The 29 July army putsch, though deepening
uncertainties about Niger's future and greatly increasing tengion,?did
not seriously disrupt the African Bureau's operations.' The bureau's
communications functioned much more effectively than during past crises, and
except for 29 July, when Nigerian communications were totally disrupted, a
curtailed but vital file was received in Headquarters each day. After
several days of transmitting the bureau file via alternate emergency
circuitry into London for relay to Washington, normal communications were
restored 2 August. The monitoring mission continued despite a very real fear
for their lives by Ibos and other non-Northerners employed in the North by
FBIS and other U.S. missions. As a precaution, and to reassure the African
Staff, the bureau thief arranged for a 24-hour police guard of the non-Staff
housing area. The Warning Phase of the State Department's Emergency and
Evacuation Plan for the North was imposed for approximately a week, as was
a ban on American travelers entering Nigeria. Emergency plans were reviewed
both in Kaduna and at FBIS Headquarters. During the height of the crisis,
the East Coast Bureau backstopped coverage of Lagos and other West African
transmitters as reception permitted, and provided useful information on Lagos
radio behavior. (CONFIDENTIAL)
2. Saigon Situation:- July in Saigon was relatively calm with only
minor incidents or-Viet Cong terrorism reported. However, there was concern'
among Vietnamese and U.S. officials that terrorist activity would be stepped
up during the election campaign which culminates 11 September. There were
press reports of increased security measures around Saigon's perimeter and a
minimum curfew from 2400-0400 was maintained. Meanwhile there was no
improvement in the economic picture. General criticism of the recent 7.5-
percent wage increase for local U.S. mission employees continued, as did
rumors of an impending strike by the employees. (CONFIDENTIAL)
3. Mediterranean Bureau Developments: There was some increase of ?
tension in Cyprus during July and early August, due mainly to several incidents-
of armed confrontation between Greeks and Turks. Searches of Turks entering ,
and leaving Nicosia were intensified, leading to strong protests, and U.N.
officials described the situation at roadblocks throughout the island as the
Group I
Excluded from automatic down-
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 August 1966
worst since the summer of 1964. During discussions between the Chief and
Deputy Chief and appropriate security officers it was unanimously agreed that
the Marine Guard detachment at the bureau should be retained. (CONFIDENTIAL)
4. Caribbean Bureau Progress: During July landowner Manuel Sanchez
and the U.S. Attorney in San Juan reached agreement on a purchase price for
the Caribbean Bureau's 56-acre central site and the entrance road right-of-
way. Negotiations are in progress for the purchase of some 275 acres of
antenna field land on the east and south sides of the central site. After
some delay caused by nonavailability of materials and lack of approved shop
drawings, work on the foundation of the bureau's auxiliary building and on
the basement of the operations building was resumed during the second week
of August. The Navy-FBIS agreement on operation and maintenance of the
bureau's microwave communications system was signed 19 August. On 15 August
the monitoring operation was moved from the Transportable Monitoring Unit
(TMU) to a specially equipped van without interrupting operations. (CONFIDENTIAL)
5. Services on Vietnam: Recent services on Vietnam included a review
for the State Department of CPR statements in the past year on volunteers
for Vietnam. USIA was supplied with Soviet reaction to Indian Prime Minister
Gandhi's press conference statement with regard to a new Geneva conference
and withdrawal of troops from Vietnam, as well as rundowns of Moscow's
treatment of President Johnson's Omaha and Des Moines speeches, Under
Secretary of State Ball's Congressional testimony, and the possible trial of
captured U.S. pilots by the DRV.
Upon request, a Hoc Tap article by Nguyen Chi Thanh, indicating
serious dissension in mid-1965 within the Viet Cong and possibly between
Hanoi and the Viet Gong over the U.S. troop buildup, was specially repunched
and filed priority to Admiral Sharp, Commander in Chief Pacific. Though
Saigon Bureau, upon local request, had filed the article to CINCPAC earlier,
it nes decided to file the item again to insure personal receipt by the
admiral. The DIA Human Resources Office recently was added as a wire
recipient of all monitored material on U.S. POW's in Southeast Asia. The
Saigon Bureau's expeditious processing of recent speeches by Prince Sihanouk,'
.and particularly the Cambodian leader's remarks about relations with the
Viet Gong, the DRV, and the South Vietnamese Government, prompted expressions
of appreciation by consumers in Washington, including the State Department's
Far Eastern desk. (SECRET)
6. Ssecial Services: The Wire Service, in response to a crash request
from Presidential Press Secretary Bill Moyers, reran to the White House
Situation Room for relay to President Johnson at his Texas ranch the text _of
the CCP Central Committee plenum's 13 August communique. .In response to the
intelligence community's continuing interest in the state of Cuban Premier
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 August 1966
Fidel Castro's health, the Key West Bureau forwarded to an Agency component
videotapes of Castro's 14 July speech and two earlier ones. The Mediterranean
Bureau wirefiled to the U.S. Embassy, Cairo, a portion of President Nasir's
22 July speech which was missed by the embassy because of a recorder failure.
Tapes of recorded statements of captured U.S. pilots Denton and Coffee,
broadcast by Peking radio, were supplied by the West coast Bureau at
Headquarters request. (CONFIDENTIAL)
7. Research and Analysis Services: Research requests from Agency
components dealt, among other things, with demonstrations before the U.S.
Embassy in Moscow; most recent usage by the Chinese of the term "socialist
camp"; the number of participants in CPR rallies; Polish propaganda on the
U.S. business community and its cooperation with the Agency; Soviet reports
of trade delegations in Chile; and Peking reports on an International Union of
Students meeting in Cairo.
Information about Soviet propaganda on aspects of space and science
was provided by RPD for consumers in the intelligence community: NASA was
supplied with Soviet statements since January 1966 on the Soviet Union's
leading role in space; another consumer was assisted in locating a Brezhnev
claim, made in December 1964, that the Soviet lead in science and technology
was definitive; and material on Soviet "orbital rocket's" was forwarded to the
Foreign Missile and Space Analysis Center. An inquiry about the number of
signatures to the Stockholm Appeal of August 1950 was answered for the Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency. Other primary consumers were supplied with
Moscow and Peking reaction to the 2 June French nuclear test, information on
Soviet treatment of France's failure to sign the'July 1963 test ban treaty,
and an item on Cuban assistance to medical installations in Africa. (SECRET)
. 8. Lateral Services: The London Bureau is servicing the U.S. Embassy,
Athens, with material from the clandestine Voice of Truth in Greek. During
the latter half of July the London Bureau, upon request, filed three Nasir
speeches to the U.S. Embassy in Athens.
? The value of CPR and DPRK broadcast material filed to Seoul by the
Okinawa Bureau was stressed during a visit to the bureau by Maj. Gen. J. O.
Butcher, USMC, the senior American representative on the Military Armistice
Commission at Panmunjom. At the Okinawa Bureau's request, the Tokyo and West
Coast Bureaus recently began filing to a local consumer in Okinawa all items
of a political nature dealing with Japan. On 25 July the Okinawa Bureau began
wirefiling CPR domestic material to the station in Hong Kong. An urgent request
to the Okinawa Bureau from 7th and 13th Air Force units in Thailand for reports
on downed aircraft and captured U.S. personnel said that such FBIS material
would have a bearing on U.S. rescue operations, possibly leading to the
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SUBJEM Letter of Information, 29 August 1966
cancellation of some missions and eliminating needless risk to both personnel
and aircraft. During Secretary Rusk's 8-9 July stay in South Korea, the
Okinawa Bureau wirefiled to the U.S. Embassy, Seoul, communiSt radio comment
on the visit.
During July the Saigon Bureau, upon request, supplied its Press and
Kadio Highlights to a visiting Foreign Service inspection team headed by
Ambassador Julius Holmes; forwarded to South Vietnam Foreign Minister Tran
?an Do, via the Embassy, a copy of Indian Prime Minister Gandhi's proposal
to reconvene the Geneva Conference on Vietnam; and supplied a tape recording
of Ho Chi Minh's mobilization appeal for use in JUSPAO's psychological
warfare programing. (SECRET)
9. Use of FBIS Materials: Recent cables from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon
cited FBIS-monitored material revealing the differing attitudes of the CPR
and North Vietnam on the continued validity of the Geneva Agreements; the
NFLSV Central Committee's condemnation of the forthcoming South Vietnam
elections; and Hanoi radio's tribute to "comrade experts"--presumably
Chinese--"who have sacrificed themselves on our soil." An FBIS-monitored
item from Pyongyang radio alerted the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to the fact that
the North Korean Foreign Ministry had sent a letter to U Thant requesting
that its 21 July memorandum on unification of Korea be issued to member states
as a U.N. document without delay. .The National Council of Churches in New
York, which receives the unrestricted Daily Report and uses all relevant
information for its publication "Religion in Communist Dominated Areas,"
was able to return the favor by supplying for FBIS' Radio Propaganda Division
its translation of letters to USSR President Podgornyy from two Russian
priests criticizing the Soviet government for religious suppression.
Fourteen percent of the items appearing in the OCI Digest during
July were based wholly or in part on FBIS-monitored items. (CONFIDENTIAL)
10. Briefings and Visits: Ten Agency Career Trainees recently heard.
talks by Deputy DirectorL and the chiefs of the Editorial
and Radio Propaganda Divisions on career prospects in FBIS. The CT's later
were given a tour of FBIS Headquarters. Two staff members of the VOA newsroom's
Latin America desk who have frequent contact with FBIS Wire editors visited
the Wire Service to meet their counterparts. Recent visitors to Headquarters
from DIA included several analysts from the Latin American Division and an Air
Force colonel who had just returned from Moscow and was able to provide
information on television monitoring there.
Mr. Chalmers B. Wood, newly designated Country Director for Cyprus,
visited the Mediterranean Bureau 21 July for a briefing. During a recent
visit to the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, the chief of the German Bureau briefed
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SUBJECT:. Letter of Information, 29 August 1966
Minister Martin J. Hillenbrand and Mr. Ray S. Cline, Chief Coordinator and
Special Adviser (OCA), on German Bureau operations. Mr, Howard W. Talbot,
station manager of Radio Liberty, Taipei, visited the Tokyo Bureau 27 July.
(SECRET)
11. Hokkaido Bureau Relocation: The U.S. Army Japan on 25 July informed
the Hokkaido Bureau that formal transfer of the land required by FBIS
adjacent to Chitose III had been accomplished. Further production difficulties
probably will delay the arrival of 10 housing units for the relocated bureau
June or July of 1967. (CONFIDENTIAL)
12. Editorial Handbock: A revised edition of the FBIS Editorial
Handbook was completed in late July after an extensive review of field bureau
and Editorial Division procedures. The handbook went to the printers 9
August and distribution is scheduled for September. (UNCLASSIFIED)
13. Okinawa Red Cross Volunteers: Seven wives of Okinawa Bureau employees,
including six foreign nationals, who are working as American Red Cross
Volunteers at the Kadena Air Base dispensary and in the Vietnam Air
Medical Evacuation Program, were "capped" in a 26 July ceremony held at the
Kadena Air Base Chapel. (UNCLASSIFIED)
FIELD OPERATIONS AND ENGINEERING
14. Broadcasting-Monitoring Statistics: In response to a high-level
request, FOS recently compilerthe following up-to-date statistics on world
...)roadcast output, the monitoring task, and the resultant intelligence
product:
Number of foreign broadcasting stations (AM,FM,TV)
17,000
Words broadcast daily
750,000,000
Average words monitored daily by FBIS
6,000,000
Average words filed daily by field bureaus
240,000
Average words published daily in Daily Reports
125,000
(FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
15. Brazil Coverage: Partial responsibility for coverage of Brazil will
be transferred to Caribbean Bureau at the beginning of September, when two
monitors are transferred on PCS from the East Coast Bureau. A cruising check
in Puerto Rico confirmed that present Brazilian coverage can be handled well
with the temporary antenna system and that there are additional coverage
possibilities. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
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SUBJECT:. Letter of Information, 29 August 1966
16. Broadcasting Develoyments: On 28 July (Haiti time) Radio Moscow
broadcast its first program in Haitian Creole as a part of its Latin American
service. The special broadcast by Haitian expatriates was announced "to
commemorate the American invasion of Haiti on July 28, 1915." There are
indications that Moscow intends to inaugurate a regular service in Creole
to Haiti. Panama Bureau, with recording aid from the West Coast Bureau;
covered the first broadcast and will attempt future coverage.
Peking initiated broadcasting in Urdu for India and Pakistan on
1 August, with two 30-minute programs daily displacing an English transmission
for South Asia. The Okinawa Bureau has coverage responsibility.
Since late April, when direct Moscow broadcasts in Czech and
Slovak were resumed after being suspended in 1959, the number and frequency
of transmissions of recorded, Moscow-prepared programs carried on Czechoslovak
Domestic Servicetransmitters has slowly dwindled to only one weekly program
in each language. Coverage by the BBC continues. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
17. IBM Equipment: All bureaus which received the new IBM recording
and transcribing equipment have completed installation, and monitors'
assessment of performance has been very favorable. FBIS domestic bureaus
continue to use Dictaphone equipment. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
ADMINISTRATION
18. Obsolete and Surplus Equipment: Field bureaus should regularly
review equipment inventories with a7711R4 to disposing of obsolete or surplus
stock. This is especially important because obsolete and surplus equipment
is registered in the annual dollar reports at the same cost as new or "in
use" property, thus presenting a false inventory value. Also, bureau
retention of property not actually needed for current operations can result
in excessive maintenance and storage burdens. (FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
19. Regulatory Issuances: The following regulatory issuance was
disseminated: (UNCLASSIFIED)
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SUBJECT: Letter of Information, 29 August 1966
EDITORIAL'
1. Logs and Program Summaries: Bureaus submitting press agency logs
and program summaries to headquarters on a regular basis for reference
purposes are asked to insure that they accurately reflect the status of
items selected for processing. Recently there have been a number of
instances of fruitless searches in headquarters for items listed as "sent" that
Wczein fact still being processed by the field bureau. Those items selected
for processing but not actually filed at the time the log is sent to
headquarters should be designated as being processed, texted, summarized,
etc.;,:ai appropriate. "Sent" should denote items that actually have been
sent.
2. New Employees
,3. Reassignments
Assignmeni
Technician, East Coast Bureau
Editor, ME/AF/WE/LA Branch, Editorial Division
From
Chief
L E R Staff
Deputy Chief
Okinawa Bureau
Chief
East Coast Bureau
Editor
East Coast Bureau
Deputy Chief
Editorial Division
Chief Engineer
Okinawa Bureau
Teletype Supervisor
Tokyo Bureau
Operations Officer
Field Operations Staff
To
Chief
Saigon Bureau
Chief
East Coast Bureau
Detailed to special
project in Headquarters
Editor, ME/AF/WE/LA Branch,
? Editorial Division
Deputy Chief
Okinawa Bureau
Chief Engineer
Mediterranean Bureau
Teletype Supervisor, Wire
Service Br., Editorial Div.
Asst. Chief Engineer
West Coast Bureau
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3.
Letter of Information, 29 August 1966
(Cont'd)
Section Chief
Senior Editor
Editorial Division
Tokyo Bureau
Editor
London Bureau
Editor, USSR & EE Branch,
Editorial Division
4.
Separations
From
Mono-Wonitor, Key West
3ureau
Analyst, Radio Propaganda Division
S.
Temporary Duty in Headquarters
to ukinawa Bureau
bureau
- Orientation en route from Key West Bureau
- Reorientation
ROGER G. SEELY
Director
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
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