THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 20 MAY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976156
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: May 20, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
The President's Daily Brief
20 May 1968
23
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1 (1
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
20 MAY 1968
1. France De Gaulle this morning is con-
fronted with:
--a mushrooming strike which has
paralyzed large areas of the country;
--student protestors as intransi-
gent as ever;
--a censure motion in the legis-
lature against the Pompidou government.
Strikers have occupied more than
250 factories and idled large parts of
the transportation network. According
to the press, the Paris police may go
on strike next.
The thread which ties the workers
to the students is their dissatisfaction
with what Ambassador Shriver calls the
"constipated bureaucracy" of the coun-
try. For the workers, this apparently
includes their own labor federations.
Significantly, none of the federations
has called a general strike, and all
seem to be trying to rein their members
in.
We believe Pompidou will survive
the censure motion. He may lose a few
votes from the leftist fringe of the
Gaullist party, but these will probably
be offset by votes from conservative
deputies who fear that the successor to
Pompidou's government would be a left-.
ist coalition including the Communists.
De Gaulle himself is still pulling
his punches. He is not even scheduled
to talk to the nation until Friday. He
has a formidable arsenal of weapons to
bring to bear, ranging up to the decla-
ration of a state of emergency. His own
position is not threatened, but he will
need all his skill to head off the chal-
lenge to the structure he has built
around himself.
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
2. South Vietnam
3. East Germany
Tran Van Huong's appointment as
premier will probably increase the
government's following among several
important civilian groups in South
Vietnam, including the militant Bud-
dhists and the people in the southern
part of the country.
Ky and the generals, on the other
hand, are a bit worried.
A growing number of East Germans
are saying their country should follow
Czechoslovakia's lead. Some are even
beginning to question the stability of
the Communist world and the value of
the Warsaw Pact's guarantees.
Such openly expressed sentiments
help explain why Ulbricht is pushing so
hard for a Soviet crackdown on Prague.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in -Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1 _
o0X1
4. Panama
5. Nigeria
/the winner in last Sunday's
presidential elections may be declared
later this week. Since Arias support-
ers predominate on the electoral board
which performs this function, we ex-
pect that Arias' victory will be con-
firmed.
The Samudio forces are now trying
to subvert some of the members of the
electoral board. As long as Vallarino
and the National Guard support Arias,
however, Samudio's prospects are pretty
dim.
Federal troops have taken the air-
port at Port Harcourt. This was the
terminal for the air shuttle which was
the Biafrans' only access to the out-
side world. The government in Lagos
had been pushing hard to capture it in
order to strengthen its hand further
at the peace talks which open in Uganda
this week.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A066100170001-1
\
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
_ Top Secret
16
- 20 May 1968
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
20 May 1968
I? NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Mai Van Bo Interview North Vietnam's permanent
reprei-eriTTIi-Te in Paris, Mai Van Bo, gave an inter-
view on 16 May to a Western journalist in which he
commented on Hanoi's attitude to the peace talks.
The main impression given by Bo was that the North
Vietnamese negotiators were not prepared to agree
to reciprocal action for a full US bombing halt of
the North.
.Bo went on to say that Hanoi did not expect
the US to stop the bombing and as a result would
continue to fight in Vietnam while continuing the
"deaf persons' dialogue" in.Paris, In answer to
the question of whether the North Vietnamese would
continue to negotiate if the Americans do not stop
the bombing soon, Bo said that they would continue
the conversations as long as they "appeared to be
useful." He added that he did not believe it would
be useful to make a "symbolic gesture" to enable the
Americans to save face while stopping the bombing.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1 ?
?2?
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
?3?
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
50X1
* * *
North Vietnamese to Give Paris Reception:
Etienne Manac'h, Asian bureau chief of the French
Foreign Ministry, has told a US official that the
North Vietnamese are planning a large reception at
a Paris hotel on 21 May. Manac'h said the French
premier and foreign minister probably would not at-
tend, but there would be high-level Foreign Ministry
representation. A number of diplomats, including
representatives from NATO countries, have also been
invited.
Hanoi's Delegation Settling In: Manac'h also
said that the North Vietnamese delegation had asked
the French to help with the installation of tele-
type machines and direct telephone lines from their
recently acquired villa to the Majestic Hotel and
North Vietnamese offices in town. The villa is one
formerly occupied by French Communist leader Thorez
and now owned by the French Communist Party. Manac'h
indicated that everything pointed to the North Viet-
namese settling down for a long stay in Paris.
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report today.
-4-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100170001-1