THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 4 JANUARY 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976545
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: January 4, 1969

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006700010001-2
The President's Daily Brief
ng.e.t- 4 January 1969
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
4 JANUARY 1969
1. Soviet Union
2. Commonwealth
Conference
A launch "window" for Venus will
be open soon and the Russians probably
will take advantage of it to attempt
two or three probes to the planet. The
best day will be about 13 January, but
the launches could be made several days
on either side.
The Soviets may try a repeat of
their Venus 4 mission. This probe,
while not a complete success, sent back
data on the Venus ian atmosphere before
it hit the planet in October 1967.
From their present positions, the
Soviet space support ships could back
up a Venus shot and other space events
as well.
Harold Wilson is in for rough go-
ing when the Commonwealth prime minis-
ters meet from 7 to 15 January in Lon-
don. Part of the problem is that the
Commonwealth no longer has much in
common?Australia and Swaziland, for
example, share few interests while In-
dia and Pakistan share only enmity.
But British policies will draw most of
the brickbats thrown. This year's di-
visive. issues include Rhodesia, Nigeria,
and Britain's immigration policy.
The African prime ministers will
charge Wilson with reneging on agreed
Rhodesian policy, and those who back
Biafra will assail Britain's support
for the federal side.
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3. Pakistan
. NATO
5. Israel-,Jordan
Trouble is expected in Karachi
this weekend when outspoken Ayub critic
Asghar Khan arrives for a four to six
weeks stay. Numerous antigovernment
activities are planned to welcome Asghar,
the popular ex - air force chief who
entered opposition politics in mid-Novem-
ber.
Soviet Defense Minister Grechko
visits Pakistan later this month. The
result probably will be Pakistan's
first military aid agreement with the
Soviet Union. Tanks are expected to be
one item covered.r
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Insurrection flares in Disputed Guyana Region
VENEZUELA
Concentration
of Venezuelan
border forces
-trGEORGETOWN
GUYANA
PARAMAMBO
Th
SURINAM
FRENCH
GUIANA
Dissident.ranobers :Lethem
seize Lethem
Boa Vista?
Area claimed by
VENEZUELA
BRAZIL
933651-69 CIA
Area claimed by
NETHERLANDS
Late Information Indicates That Lethem
Is Back Under Government Control
(
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61 Guyana
Their official denials notwith-
standing, the Venezuelans are support-
ing an insurrection which broke out
in a remote corner of southwest Guyana
this week. Another attack may be com-
ing further north.
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One of the ranchers, who gave 50X1
himself up yesterday, has admitted re-
ceiving Venezuelan help. Last night
Venezuela's foreign minister again de-
nied cbmplicity and suggested Brazilians
might be the culprits.
The ranchers, some of whom are US
citizens, are a particularly rough
crew with a flair for violence and a
long-standing grudge against the gov-
ernment. They have been compared with
some of the New Mexico ranchers of the
1880's,
? Government forces have retaken the
town the ranchers and their Indian co-
horts'seized Thursday, but well armed
rebels are still loose in the Country-
side.
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Top Secret
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Top' Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
.) North Vietnamese Reflections of US
Political Attitudes
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4 January 1969
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
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4 January 1969
I!, NOTES ON THE SITUATION
* * *
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Japanese Resume Shipping to North Vietnam: The
first regular Japanese shipping to North Vietnam
since the'US bombing began in March 1965 may resume
this month. (
Since March 1965, only one Japanese vessel
has stopped in North Vietnam--in May 1968. Further
stops were canceled following informal US representa-
tions and pressure by the Japanese Government.
Conditions in Hanoi:
no significant num-
bers of evacuees have been permitted to return to-
the city. the current population of
Hanoi is about 600,000 and. that' about 400,000 evacuees
were still in the countryside. These figures are in
the ball park, of the estimated evacuation of Hanoi
at the height of the bombing. There have been other
reports, however, of a significant drift back into
the city.
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black marketing is 50X1
rife in Hanoi and since the 1 November bombing 50X1
halt, foreign manufactured products have begun to
show up in this channel in significant Volume. The
black market As now so extensive 50X1
that the authorities no longer' attempt to control it,
This is probably an exaggeration. The ,back market
is, nevertheless, a very real feature of the North '
Vietnamese economy. The top levels of the leadership
have dire warnings about its extent and its
continued existence,
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:NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report to-
day:.
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Tob Secret
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