THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 17 NOVEMBER 1969

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006146467
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: November 17, 1969

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/04/27 : CIA-RDP79T00936A007700140001-7
The President's Daily Brief
17 November 1969
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
17 November 1969
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Lebanese President Hilu fears loss of control over
the military. (Page 1)
India's Congress Party takes another step toward a
final split. (Page 2)
Paraguayan church leaders are taking on the govern-
ment on several fronts. (Page 3)
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LEBANON
President Hilu believes General Bustani did
a poor job of negotiating in Cairo. The President
told Ambassador Porter that Bustani had fallen for
flattery and agreed to several provisions he had
not discussed with his government. Hilu did not
specify which provisions, but said the most danger-
ous one concerned the status of the refugee camps.
Ambassador Porter points out that Hilu
now has doubts about his control over
the military. He quotes the President
as saying, "What will happen to Lebanon
if tomorrow we have a prime minister who
is unwilling to use force to control the
fedayeen and an army whose leadership
may be similarly unwilling or unable?"
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INDIA
? The warring factions of the ruling Congress
Party have moved closer to a final split. Yester-
day, about 100 of the party's parliamentary dele-
gation who are opposed to Prime Minister Gandhi
elected their own leadership under former deputy
prime minister Morarji Desai. Desai resigned from
the cabinet last July during an intraparty fight
over bank nationalization and the nomination of a
presidential candidate.
Mrs. Gandhi probably has enough strength
to win a vote of confidence in Parliament,
which opens today. If her party remains
divided, however, she would have to rely
? on the votes of the leftist opposition
parties to stay in power.
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PARAGUAY
General Stroessner's heavy-handed tactics
against student demonstrations have brought on a
new struggle with reform-minded members of the Cath-
olic hierarchy. Some priests and nuns have joined
students in protesting the continued detention of
students arrested last June during Governor Rocke-
feller's visit. Late in October several priests
were beaten by police who were breaking up a lay/
clergy procession. The council of bishops retali-
ated by excommunicating the officials involved, and
in turn the government closed the church's semiof-
ficial weekly newspaper. Behind-the-scenes efforts
to mediate have so far proved fruitless. Church
leaders and government officials, including Stroes-
sner himself, continue to exchange recriminations.
The Paraguayan church is emerging rapidly
from its former isolation, and an increas-
ing number of bishops and priests are in-
volving themselves in the political issues
of economic and social reform. In a coun-
try where political compromise is rare,
the dispute between church and state is
likely to sputter on for a Long time. It
is not apt to cause a real crisis, but it
could weaken the 15-year-old regime's po-
sition as sole arbiter of Paraguayan po-
litical life.
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NOTES
Vietnarn:
Israel - Arab States: The sabotaging of two
Israeli ships in Eilat harbor early yesterday was
carried out by Egyptian frogmen apparently from the
nearby Jordanian port of Aqaba. The Israelis are
extremely sensitive to any threat to the port, which
is their only trade outlet to the Far East as well
as the main supply route for Israel's oil imports.
Terrorist attacks on Eilat have in the past brought?
Israeli reprisals on Aqaba, and yesterday's incident
is not likely to be an exception.
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Top Secret
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