THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 3 MARCH 1970

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005977328
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: March 3, 1970

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The President's Daily Brief
3 March 1970
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
3 March 1970
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Arana has a comfortable plurality in Guatemala's
presidential elections, but it may be necessary for
the legislature to select the next president. (Page 1)
Madrid plans to emphasize security guarantees during
the negotiations on US bases in Spain. (Page 2)
The Cambodian Government is concerned about Commu-
nist-led insurgency along its frontiers. (Page 4)
The East German politburo is divided over how to
conduct the Brandt-Stoph talks. (Page 5)
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GUATEMALA
The returns from 313 of 325-municipalities indi-
cate that rightist candidate Colonel Carlos Arana
has a comfortable plurality but is short of a major-
ity of the votes cast in the elections for President
last Sunday. In the absence of a majority for any
one candidate the constitution requires the congress
to select the President from the two top vote-getters.
The constitution does not, however, indicate when the
unicameral legislature should elect the President or
specify whether the incumbent or newly-elected legis-
lature is responsible for the choice.
The congressional races show signs of independ-
ent vote splitting, and the final results are not yet
available. The electoral registry, its performance
handicapped by the shooting of the director last week,
is in a state of confusion, and Arana is irritated by
what he believes is a deliberate effort to stall the
final tally.
Guatemala's electorate apparently was drawn
to Arana's emphasis on the need for law and
order. Acts of terrorism during the cam-
paign, including the dramatic kidnaping of
the foreign minister, underscored the gov-
ernment's inability to control violence and
probably contributed to Arana's upset vic-
tory.
The presidential succession is not until 1
July and the intervening period will be
delicate. If Arana does not receive a ma-
jority, the ill-defined provisions for the
second-stage of the presidential elections
will allow considerable room for disruptive
political maneuvering.
1
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SPAIN
Spain intends to use a new approach in renego-
tiating the agreement for US bases. The Spanish am-
bassador told Assistant Secretary Hillenbrand last
week that Madrid "has completely abandoned the idea
of granting bases for money." Instead the new Span-
ish Government wants the US to assist it in obtain-
ing "multilateral arrangements" as a means of getting
protection from the risk the bases entail for Spain.
The ambassador claimed he had the impression that
Washington sees a solution based on Spanish associa-
tion with NATO or with some new western Mediterranean
organization.
This new approach probably reflects Franco's
instructions, which presumably will be
spelled out later this month when Forei n
Minister Bravo visits Washin ton.
We know the Spaniards need additional fi-
nancing for their armed forces, however,
and despite the emphasis on a new approach,
we expect the negotiations to be difficult,
2
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MIDDLE EAST
3
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Cambodian Government Claims
Vietnamese Communists Support Insurgents
I
? '
???7 L ATOS
Tribal insurgen s mai taining
steady pressure on army unit
;
?
t-
SOUTH
e
VIETNAM 1.
*Saigon
10?
q.
GULF
OF
SIAM
WArea of insurgent activity according
to published Cambodian maps
0 50
?
MILES
97769 3-70 CIA
104
At.
106
SOUTH
CHINA SA
?10-
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CAMBODIA
The government, in an article published in an
official journal and attributed to Prime Minister
Lon Nol, has been unusually explicit on Vietnamese
Communist promotion of insurgency. Lon Nol charges
that in three southeastern border provinces at least
five Khmer Rouge guerrilla bands, aggregating about
450 men, are operating out of Viet Cong - controlled
areas in South Vietnam. He asserts that they plan
to extend their influence westward.
These guerrilla bands, the article alleges, are
led by long-time Cambodian Communist Party members,
some of whom were trained in North Vietnam. Some of
the guerrillas are described as native Cambodians
but most are said to belong to the ethnic Cambodian
minority in South Vietnam.
It is not possible to vouch for the authen-
ticity of these claims, but it has not been
Cambodian practice to publish such material
without somethin# to back it u'.
the Cambo-
dians have encountered some insurgents in
this area for at least two years. If the
Vietnamese are involved, it is likely that
they are using the insurgents to help es-
tablish and protect secure base areas on
Cambodian soil. Hanoi has consistently
assured Phnom Penh that it is not support-
ing the insurgents.
Whatever the facts of the matter, Phnom
Penh takes the insurgency threat seriously.
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EAST GERMANY - WEST GERMANY
Horst Ehmke, a Minister in the West German Chan-
cellery, told Ambassador Rush yesterday that a vio-
lent controversy had taken place within the East Ger-
man politburo over the way the Brandt-Stoph talks
should be handled. Politburo members Honecker and
Norden, supported by a majority of the politburo,
were adamantly opposed to Ulbricht's and Stoph's plan
to conduct relatively businesslike talks with Brandt.
The controversy was only resolved by Soviet Foreign
Minister Gromyko, who traveled to East Germany to
oblige the opposition to accept Ulbricht's proposal.
5
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Communists Moving West of Plaine
61
Bouam )
Long.
Nam (na
Mucing -
Enemy trucks Soui
observed in
? NVA radio
Saan e
nekk /lh?terminal
Lu an
Ban
\ Nam Pit
4/7
tgia
(phou
Khoun
JAR R
1?(11O_u3n g
Tha Tam
Bleunge
Photii,K?he
? Khang
eKho '
probing attack
Xieng _
Khouangville
fY
1,0 20M les
10 2O Kilometers/1
e Government-held Iodation
? Communist-held location
977803-70 CIA
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NOTES
Laos: Government patrols recently have sighted
enemy movements some 12 miles west of the former, gov-
ernment base at Muong Soui. In addition, ,a North '
Vietnamese radio terminal associated with the 316th
Division has appeared five miles southwest of Muong
Soui. This is the second terminal to move into this
area in the past week and the enemy may be consider-
ing attacks against the newly-strengthened government
positions at San Luang and' Ban Nam Pit. South of
the Plaine the Communists continue to probe General
Vang Pao's defenses in the Khang Kho area and may
eventually strike the government outpost at Tha Tam
Bleung.
USSR-China:
Austria: Both Socialist leader Kreisky and
out-going UFancellor Klaus have voiced support for
reviving the "Grand Coalition," which governed from
1945 to 1966, in the wake of Sunday's election which
gave the Socialists a plurality for the first time.
President Jonas is expected momentarily to ask Krei-
sky to form a government, a task which may be com-
pleted before the weekend. Foreign policy is not an
issue between the two parties, and differences on
domestic questions should not prove insurmountable.
We expect a smooth, transition of power which should
not affect the forthcoming SALT talks in Vienna.
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Top Secret
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