THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 9 DECEMBER 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005976503
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: December 9, 1968

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The President's Daily }B r ef
-57-"orSTer-a-- 9 December 1968
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.THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
9 DECEMBER 1968
1. Czechoslovakia -
Soviet Union
2. Japan
The weekend meeting in Kiev be-
tween top Czechoslovak and Soviet lead-
ers apparently involved another effort
by Prague to get Moscow's "clearance"
on an aspect of domestic policy. Dub-
cek, in this case, probably sought So-
viet approval for carrying out some
portions of Prague's pre-invasion eco-
nomic reform program. Economic policy
is the subject of a party central com-
mittee meeting in Prague scheduled for
this Thursday, and the Czechoslovak
leaders presumably wanted to find out
how far they would be permitted to go.
The communiqu?ssued after the
meeting gives no hint as to how the
Czechoslovaks made out.
Prime Minister Sato, fresh from
his recent re-election as party presi-
dent, looks upon Okinawa as the crucial
challen e of his third term.
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3. Venezuela
4. Communist China
Final election returns give vic-
tory to Christian Democrat Rafael Cal-
dera. He won just under thirty percent
of the total vote--only one percent
more than his nearest rival, Gonzalo
Barrios of the administration's Demo-
cratic Action Party.
Government and military leaders
have assured Caldera that they, will up-
hold the election results. Some iso-
lated incidents may occur, but security
forces are alert to control any demon-
strations.
Inauguration day is not until 14
March, and Caldera will be busy in the
interim working to put together a coali-
tion government. His Democratic Action
rivals have apparently won a plurality
of seats in the lower house of Congress.
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that the Chinese have been continuing
their nationwide airfield construction
program despite the disruptions of the
Cultural Revolution. About 60 airfields
have been completed, modernized, or
started since the program began in 1964.
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.. Latin America
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
1.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of US
Political Attitudes
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9 December 1968
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;Jun I
Special Daily RepOrt on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
9 December 1068
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
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Another Protest: On 7 December Hanoi broadcast
a very, brief report of the latest North Vietnamese
Foreign Ministry protest against US aircraft enter-
ing North Vietnamese air space and US artillery
firing into the northern half of the Demilitarized
Zone. Hanoi clearly is protesting for the record
and is not making a major issue of these alleged US
activities.
.'Foreign Minister' Interviewed: North Vietnam-
eSe Foreign,Minister Trinh broke little new ground
in a .recent interview witha Japanese correspondent.
? In response' to questions about the.Paris talks and
the future political shape of Indachina, the minis-
ter mouthed the usual platitudes .and cliches. His
most notable comment on.political matters-was one
stressing that reunification of Vietnam should not
be. realized "immediately and in haste" and that-con-
-tacts between the "two regimes" (inNorth and South)
,should be developed in' the interim.. These are basic
points in the Liberation Front's politicaLprogram
but because they implya good deal of compromise on
the part of the Communists, they are rarely made by
-North Vietnamese officials
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Trinh made .a relatively forthright bid for non-
Communist postwar aid in response to questions from
'his Japanese interviewer, He. emphasized Hanoi's
self-reliance, but he acknowledged that aid from
.other countries would be needed and would be accepted'
as long as Worth Vietnam's independence.and.sover-.
.eigntyfwererespected.. He .said that aid froma multi-
nation postwar. rehabilitation fund would be rejected
if the planAvas.a "manifestation of neocolonialism in
collusion with the'United.States." Otherwise,-he
'said, :non-Communist aid,:indluding..aid from Japan,
. would be welcome,
More on Agricultural Problems:
II Hanoi is
rounding up officials from some of the northwest
provinces for a powwow on agricultural problems.
The local officials were enjoined to report on re-
sults of ?the 1968 harvest, preparations for next
year's crops, and measures to prevent famine and
disease (apparently among both humans and animals).
?The message sounds as if this is another brainstorm-
ing session to begin work on some long neglected do-
mestic problems.
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Hanoi Discusses US Redeployment: Hanoi for the
first time has reported on the movement of the US
1st Air Mobile Cavalry Division from the northern
provinces of South Vietnam into III Corps. In an
editorial in the party daily on 7 December, the North
Vietnamese alleged that the division had taken "heavy
losses" since moving south and claimed these "proved"
the "bankruptcy" of US airborne tactics.
-II. 'NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi on Antiwar Activities: An English language
broadcast from Hanoi on 8 December rounds up various
recent antiwar activities in the US. It devotes two
paragraphs to the demonstration on 4 December at New
York University, At which aSouth Vietnamese official
was prevented from speaking. It also mentions the re-
fusal of a US naval officer to board a.ship for Viet-
nam duty and the recent appearance of peace activist
David Dellinger before the House Committee on Un-
American Activities,
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