THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 27 APRIL 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007734
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: April 27, 1974

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2016/07/19 : CIA-RDP79T00936A012000010068-9
The President's Daily Brief
April 27, 1974
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 5B(I
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
April 27, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
General Spinola, Portugal's new ruler, appears to be
off to a good start. (Page 1)
The Ethiopian Prime Minister fears a possible mili-
tary take-over. (Page 4)
Adverse weather is posing a serious threat to Soviet
drops. (Page 7)
Chile?
Peru
(Page 8)
The fighting is spreading in Iraq between the Kurds
and the government. (Page 9)
Afghanistan President Daoud is consolidating his po-
sition at the expense of leftists who brought him to
power. (Page 9)
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PORTUGAL
General Spinola appears to be off to an auspi-
cious start in consolidating his control over the
country and giving his new government a reformist
image. :There was only one serious disturbance in
Lisbon yesterday; the country generally appears
calm, And much of the population is jubilant.
Although Spinola himself is hardly a liberal,
most of his pronouncements yesterday were intended
to give the impression that the country is heading
in a new direction. The limitations he has said
will be put on the scope and functions of the secret
police will be widely popular. The lifting of cen-
sorship will also enhance the reformist appearance
of Spinolals new government.
Despite these moves, however, it appears that
the junta is going to move cautiously toward "dem-
ocratizing" the country. The junta plans to invite
civilians to participate in a provisional government
that will be set up in three weeks, but the military
will choose its president and:he will most probably
be Spinola, .The election of a national assembly is
promised only Within the next year
Portugal's African territories remain calm.
Local residents 'are receiving uncensored.news ac-
counts of the events in Lisbon. Spokesmen for the
liberation movements operating in Angola have re-
peated their traditional demands for "complete in-
dependence" for all the territories. Thus 'far,
none of the insurgent groups has taken military ad-?
vantage of the situation,
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SYRIA-USSR
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ISRAEL-SYRIA
Fighting was light on the Golan front yesterday
for the second successive day.
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ETHIO1A
Prime Minister Endalkatchew and his cabinet fear
that the military may be planning an outright take-
over of the government as the only way to end ?the
continuing strikes, demonstrations, and rural unrest.
Army units yesterday arrested ministers of the
former cabinet, some provincial governors who were
in the capital, and the former mayor of Addis Ababa.
Middle-level police officers' arrested several senior
police officers, possibly including the former na-
tional police commander, General Yilma Shibeshi. The
government removed Shibeshi from his post yesterday,
in response to demands for his ouster from police in
Eritrea.
The military is patrolling Addis Ababa and has
blocked roads leading out of the city.
. The military is clearly out to force compliance
with its demands for swift prosecution of former of-
ficials for corruption. The government's reluctance
to do this has been a major source of friction.
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CHINA - NORTH VIETNAM
The Chinese, at the same time, are increasing
deliveries of food tO North Vietnam to help alle-
viate shortages. In good years, North Vietnam pro-
duces only three fourths of its food and will remain
dependent on China and other countries for the rest.
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WEST GERRANY
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USSR
Adverse weather is posing a serious threat to
Soviet crops,. Rainfall over, the western part of the
country has been well below normal for several months.
Tn a recent meeting with US Senator Roth in Moscow,
Deputy Minister Of Agriculture Kuznetsov. estimated
that up to 10 million hectares of the 35.5 million
sowed last fall will have to be resowed, compared with
an average of 3 to 5-million in recent years.
In 1972, a bad crop year, about 10 million hec-
tares of: fall-sown crops reguired reseeding. Losses
in fall grain output usually can be-offset somewhat
by resowing in the spring, but only feed grain?not:
food grain--can be used for resowing.
Prospects for the spring crops are also being
jeopardized by a cold snap and snowstorm which hit
,the European USSR the middle of this month and hin-
dered spring sowing. The area planted is now one
third less than that at this time last year. Because
the season is still early, favorable weather condi-
tions over the next few weeks would bring a substan-
tial improvement in the spring crop picture.
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CHI LE-PERU
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NOTES
LL-21g Heavy fighting between the Kurds and
government forces is spreading. All efforts to
?reach a negotiated settlement appear to have been
abandoned. The Kurds have declared an all-out war
against the Baathist regime in Baghdad. The govern-
ment, although announcing a 30-day extension of its
amnesty offer for Kurds who left their government
jobs, has warned the Kurdish rebels to cease fight-
ing immediately and surrender their leaders to the
,government or face a "broad" attack.
Afghanistan: President Daoud is consolidating
his control over the government at the expense of .
the leftists who helped him take power last July.
He has expelled some leftists from the cabinet, and
has made some key appointments designed to ensure
loyalty of the armed forces. Ambassador Eliot
thinks Daoud intends to complete his purge by July
179 the first anniversary of his assumption of
power. Leftists who feel threatened might attempt
to challenge Daoud soon in order to preserve what
power they have. It is unlikely that such a rCIQV
would succeed.
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Top Secret
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