THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 30 MAY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976174
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: May 30, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
?74"Or-Sefr-gt.... 30 May 1968
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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
30 MAY 1968
1. France
The government is near paralysis
as the country slips further toward
anarchy. Clearly, the situation is
reaching the point where some sort of
catharsis is required. If De Gaulle
recognizes this, it would not be out
of character for him to resign, sacri-
ficing himself "for the good of France,"
rather than permitting catharsis to take
a more violent and destructive form.
De Gaulle apparently interrupted
his trip to his country estate yester-
day for a hurried conference with Gen-
eral Massu and other army commanders.
This was presumably to ensure that he
had their support for the steps he in-
tends to take upon his return to Paris
later today.
Outside the regime, the political
fortunes of ex-Premier Mendes-France ap-
pear to be on the upswing. A hero to
the "antiestablishment" leftists, he
has growing support among workers and
students. Certain middle-of-the-road
politicians are now also pushing him
as the "man of the hour," capable of
restoring order while keeping the Com-
munists out of power.
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2. Jordan
3. Iran
The Shah continues to resist So-
viet offers to sell him great quanti-
ties of military equipment. The Soviets
will not be discouraged easily, how-
ever. The large credits which Iran will
earn from its exports of natural gas to
the Soviet Union can most conveniently
be offset, in the Soviet view, by mili-
tary deliveries.
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4. Brazil
5. East Europe
A new and potentially significant
reform movement is emerging under the
leadership of Archbishop Dom Helder of
Recife. He already has a substantial
following, especially among the poor
and the clergy in the impoverished north-
east.
Dom Helder now hopes to launch a
nonviolent protest campaign against the
inequities of the traditional social
system. He may have obtained at least
general approval for his effort from
the Pope during his visit to Rome last
month.
The Archbishop said he would avoid
criticism of the authorities, but his
most recent speech openly encouraged
student opposition to the government.
Conservative Brazilians, of course, re-
gard him as a threat, and many military
men call him a leftist radical.. In
fact, however, he has refused on at
least one recent occasion to support ex-
tremist-led agitators.
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
16
30 May 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
30 May 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
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Bridge Repairs: The Communists are making per-
manent repairs to bridges on rail lines in northern
North Vietnam. Photography of 16 and 22 May. showed
steel bridge trusses stored in the vicinity of the
destroyed Paul Doumer Bridge. A large floating
crane near the bridge--capable of lifting the trusses
into place--has been used to remove part of a sunken
span and, in addition, damaged. bridge piers are being
repaired.
Earlier repairs to the Doumer bridge were make-
shift and consisted of decking laid on rebuilt and
improvised piers. The use of steel trusses, similar
to the type in the original bridge, indicates that
the Communists are seeking to restore the bridge to
its original condition. There are 16 bypasses to
the Doumer bridge in operation.
The same photography also showed trusses being
used for bridge repairs on the Hanoi - Thai Nguyen
rail line.
* * *
Another Traveling Diplomat: The North Vietnam-
ese ambassador to Moscow has become the latest Hanoi
official to travel to a neutral country to lobby for
the North's position on the bombing issue. According
to a report from the US.Embassy in Helsinki, the am-
bassador arrived there on 28 May for what was de-
scribed as a "friendship visit" in order to inform
the Finnish Government of North Vietnam's views on
the war. In questioning by the press. upon his ar-
rival, the ambassador sidestepped questions on
Hanoi's attitude toward the.Paris talks by claiming
that his government was always "optimistic." He al-
so dodged questions as to whether North Vietnamese
troops were engaged in the fighting in South Vietnam.
The ambassador is scheduled to have talks with
several Finnish Government officials and to meet
with the Finnish Red Cross. It is not clear whether
he will travel to other countries, although if past
visits of this sort are any indication, he will
make several other stops before returning to his post.
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Foreign Shipping During April:. Ship ,congestion
.at Haiphong eased considerably in April as the
re-
striction of US bombing allowed a quickening of un-
loading operations. The average layover time for
dry cargo ships departing the port fell from 28 days
in March to 19 days in April and some further im-
provement is expected in May. The movement of cargo
inland from the port apparently did not accelerate,
however, and the volume of cargo in open storage in-
creased.
Ship arrivals and imports continued at a high
level, although they were down slightly from March.
Forty foreign ships arrived with 152,400 tons of
cargo, compared with 43 ships and 1699800 tons in
march,(
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.During the first four months of 1968, the num-
ber of foreign ship arrivals was the same as in the
comparable period of 1967, but imports were 14 per-
cent higher./
/Free World ships carried 29 per-
cent of the total imports in the first four months
of 1968 compared with only 13 percent during the
same period in 1967.
-Aid Agreement with Hungary: : North Vietnam ,and
Hungary concluded a supplemental economic and mili-
tary aid agreement for 1968 and aid agreements for
1969 on Tuesday. The supplemental agreement for this
year, signed by North Vietnamese Deputy Premier Le
Thanh Nghi, probably revises aid requirements listed
in the original 1968 agreement signed last October.
Nghi's trip to Eastern Europe has not received the
publicity that previous aid-seeking trips have re-
ceived, but he can probably be expected to visit
other East European capitals and the USSR before
returning to Hanoi.-:Nghi's current tour of Europe
could point to a desire to adjust the composition
of aid now that the bombing of a large part of North
Vietnam has ceased, but may also reflect a need for
greater quantities of aid than had been anticipated
last fall.
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,NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
There is nothing of significance to report.
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Top Secret
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