THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 19 MARCH 1974

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006007701
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: March 19, 1974

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The President's Daily Brief
March 19, 1974
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declassification schedule of Ea 11652
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declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
March 19, 1974
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
It does not appear likely that the SALT negotiators
will finish their work by the end of this year,
given the Soviets' reluctance to complete a perma-
nent agreement. (Page 1)
The French have approached their EC partners to pro-
? pose establishment of a meaningful EC energy policy,
according to Luxembourg's foreign minister. (Page 2)
Notes on South Vietnam, Cambodia, France, Cuba,
Guatemala, and USSR-Yemen appear on Pages 3 and 4.
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USSR
It does not now appear likely that the SALT'ne-
gotiators will finish their work by the end of this
year. Although the second session of this phase of
the Geneva talks is only four weeks old, one Soviet
delegate has already said that not enough remains
this year to reach a new agreement. The second
phase of the negotiations began well over a'year ago.,
but the substantive positions. of the two sides are
in sOme respects as far ,apart as ever.
The Soviets are plainly in no hurry to negoti-
ate a permanent agreement, mainly because they like
the terms of the Interim Agreement, which does not
expire until July 1977. In their view, .a longer
term agreement might reduce the advantages, in ICBM
and SLBM numbers and throw-weight they have under
the Interim Agreement. The Soviets also claim that
Washington is not willing to compensate them suffi-
ciently for US forward-based systems and NATO's
strategic weapons. There have been some informal
hints recently of flexibility on the issue of for-
ward-based systems, but the Soviets are still seek-
ing wherever possible to link this question to key
elements of the US position.
It is unlikely that there will be further move-
ment at the Geneva talks until after Secretary
Kissinger's trip to Moscow next week. The Soviet
delegates claim that they have received no new in-
structions; they say they would like the US to elab-
orate on its latest proposal that priority be given
to the problem of establishing equal throw-weight
limitations on ICBMs equipped with MIRVs.
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FRANCE EC
The French have approached their EC partners to
propose establishment of a meaningful EC energy pol-
icy, according to Luxembourg Foreign Minister Thorn.
An EC energy policy group would have responsibilities
resembling th0se already being handled in the 12-na-
tion Energy Coordinating Group, but the French are
promising a wider range of cooperation. Paris wants
EC energy policy discussed at the EC Council meeting
on April 1-2.
According to Thorn, the French initiative arose
out of a meeting in Paris last week between President
Pompidou and EC Commission President Ortoli. Ortoli
told Pompidou that the success thus far of the Coor-
dinating Group?which had alarmed the French--was
partly a consequence of.French unwillingness to en-
dorse EC cooperation in energy matters.
Thorn advocated that the EC eight and the US
counter Pompidou's move by accelerating progress in
the Coordinating Group and, above all, by moving
rapidly to schedule a broad conference including the
lesser developed countries and the producers..
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NOTES
South Vietnam: Fighting in the central high-
lands has eased, at least temporarily. Both sides
appear to have suffered heavy casualties in Commu-
nist attacks over the weekend near Kontum city and
near the border of Pleiku and Binh Dinh provinces.
Senior military officials in Military Region 2 be-
lieve the attacks were coordinated and are concerned
that more may soon take place. There has been heavy
infiltration of men and materiel along the Communist
logistic corridor in the western highlands in the
past few months, as well as a continuing effort to
expand the logistics system to the east.
Cambodia: The loss to the Communists of the
isolated provincial capital of Oudong, some 20 miles
northwest of Phnom Penh, is of little tactical im-
portance, but it is a significant psychological set-
back for the government. Cambodian Army troops late
yesterday were still holding out just east of Oudong,
but Khmer Communist troops were burning buildings
and trying to remove the town's 20,000 civilian in-
habitants. A government relief column attempting
to move down Route 5 from the north is bogged down
in the face of stiff resistance.
France: The deputy editor in chief of a pro-
government periodical told the US political coun-
selor on March 14 that "Pompidou is slipping rapidly"
Cuba: Cuban Armed Forces Minister Raul Castro
has been negotiating off and on with the Soviets
since February 5, apparently seeking to procure
sophisticated military weapons. The length of
Castro's visit to Eastern Europe is partially due
to side trips, but he has returned to the USSR for
several days after each trip, a pattern that sug-
gests he is having difficulties with the Soviets.
Castro may be asking- for more than the Soviets are
willing to supply, particularly in terms of up-
grading Cuba's arms inventory. Since 1968, arms
shipments from the Soviet Union have been largely
to replace expended munitions, destroyed aircraft,
and worn-out equipment.
(continued)
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GuateMala: The Guatemalan Government appears
to have stifled opposition to the fraudulent presi-
dential election and is going ahead with prepara-
tions to inaugurate its candidate, General Kjell
Laugerud. Top army generals seem to be backing the
.government. Appeals by the defeated candidate,
General Efrain Rios Montt, for nationwide strikes
have gone unanswered, and police have easily broken
up street demonstrations. Rios has now removed him-
self, in effect, from a position of opposition by
accepting a recall to active duty in the arm
USSR-Yemen (Sana): Moscow has begun sending
military equipment to Yemen (Sana) again after a
break of over three years in deliveries. ?The trans-
fer of some West European manufactured ground force
equipment from other Arab states to Sana last year
and discussions with the US for a large assortment
of arms and military training may have led Moscow
to revive its military assistance.
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