CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/08/25

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03169379
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: August 25, 1957

�Approved for Release: 2019/12/10
:er� 47/
/;�
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
c9g7")7/
3.5(c)
: s.�!
AU1
25 August 1957
Copy No. 13f;
OFFICE OF CURRENTINT LLI ENC
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This document contains classified information affecting
the national security of the United States within the
meaning of the espionage laws, US Code Title 18, Sections
793, 794, and 798. The law prohibits its transmission
or the revelation of its contents in any manner to an un-
authorized person, as well as its use in any manner
prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States
or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detri-
ment of the United States.
TOP SECRET
A
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
Auk
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
SFCR FT
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
CONTENTS
0--t 1. EGYPTIAN REGIME REPORTEDLY MAY CHARGE
"AMERICAN PLOT" (page 3).
2. LIKELIHOOD OF SYRIAN-ISRAELI BORDER INCIDENTS
INCREASED (page 4).
6-4� 3. COLOMBIAN MILITARY COUP SET FOR 31 AUGUST
(page 5).
/44-- 4. MAJOR FRENCH POLICIES SEEN DIRECTLY INFLUENCED
BY SPECIAL POLLS (page 6).
194-- 5. NEHRU WARNS CONGRESS PARTY LEADERS OF COMMU-
NIST MENACE IN KERALA (page 7).
25 Aug 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 2
r CA T
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
1, EGYPTIAN REGIME REPORTEDLY MAY CHARGE
"AMERICAN PLOT"
Comment
Cairo's current plot trials have not been
a success from the regime's standpoint--
several witnesses have denied the charges vehemently and
some have repudiated confessions extracted from them under
duress. The regime is thus under some pressure to produce
a new sensation. Charges of an "American plot" at this time,
however, would appear to identify Egypt closely with parallel
charges by Syria, and Nasr reportedly has not wanted other
Asian-African states, particularly neutralists, to make this
identification at a time when they consider that Syria may have
gone too far toward Communism.
25 Aug 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 3
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
_ in/7117-/-/M7117-1771L-
2. LIKELIHOOD OF SYRIAN-ISRAELI BORDER
INCIDENTS INCREASED
Reference:
the appointment
of relatively young Syrian officers to
key commands along the Israeli front in-
creases the likelihood of serious border
incidents in that area.
Lieu-
tenant Colonel Akram Dayri,
former chief of military police, was named
commanding officer on the front on 20 Au-
gust, All the officers commanding major units on the front
reportedly are either contemporaries of or younger than Dayri,
who allegedly executed the orders to blow up the oil pipeline
from Iraq in November 1956. The front area now under his
command is traversed by Tapline, the oil conduit from Saudi
Arabia.
On the Israeli side,
the Israeli
army is carrying on brigade and division maneuvers in the
Eilabun region west of Lake Tiberias. While this area is a
normal training ground for the Israelis,
the presence of troops there at this time also serves to guard
against untoward developments from Syria.
25 Aug 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 4
-CONFIDENT-Ma�
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
A
3. COLOMBIAN MILITARY COUP SET FOR 31 AUGUST
Comment on:
A Colombian military coup, apparently
in advanced stages of planning, is re-
-portedly set for 31 August and may obtain
the backing of the authoritarian regime of
Venezuelan President Perez. Former Colombian dictator
Rojas, now in exile, is expected to arrive in the Dominican
Republic on 29 August and has asked permission of the Vene-
zuelan government to pass through Venezuela on the day of
the scheduled revolt.
Although Rojas is largely discredited in
Colombia, his presence might provide a pretext for a coup by
those members of the Colombian military who allegedly oppose
the return of civilian government promised by the governing
military junta. The possibility for success of a coup appears
limited, however, by the strong popular opposition to Rojas
and the military demonstrated in his overthrow last May and
by the antimilitary riots in Bogota on 26 July.
Venezuelan President Perez appears un-
likely to risk his prestige by supporting an attempted coup in
Colombia, especially in view of his plans for re-election next
December and the recent break of Argentine-Venezuelan rela-
tions over former Argentine president Peron's alleged plotting
from Caracas. Nevertheless, Perez is believed to feel in-
creasingly isolated in South America by the reversals which
military regimes have suffered since 1955 in Colombia, Argen-
tina, and Peru.
the latter favored re-
establishment of the military in both Peru and Argentina and
was giving financial support to Peron's attempt to return to
power in Argentina.
25 Aug 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 5
Approved for Release: 2019/1_2/10 C03169379
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
4. MAJOR FRENCH POLICIES SEEN DIRECTLY
INFLUENCED BY SPECIAL POLLS
Comment on:
The Bourges-Maunoury government is
reportedly relying heavily on special
opinion surveys conducted for it by the
French Institute of Public Opinion to guide
its policymaking on key issues. This may explain why the
basic statute the government is now proposing for Algeria is
less liberal than had been anticipated. A late July poll showed
70 percent of the French public opposed to independence for
Algeria.
the present government has even more
confidence in the polls than did the Mollet government, which
undertook extensive soundings before its Suez intervention, and
that the frequency of surveys is being stepped up despite the gov-
ernment's general economizing.
Bourges-Maunoury may see in the poll tech-
nique a way to shore up his precarious parliamentary position.
The July survey indicated that only 20 percent of the public was
favorable to him, but that two thirds expressed no opinion. While
his government's strong stand on financial policy has probably
aroused more support, he can be expected to seek further dra-
matic steps to improve his political position.
25 Aug 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 6
�GONFIDENTIAL�
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
�-v Iry
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379
Ask
5. NEHRU WARNS CONGRESS PARTY LEADERS OF
COMMUNIST MENACE IN KERALA
Comment on:
Indian Prime Minister Nehru has warned
-Congress Party leaders of the Commu-
nist menace in Kerala state, despite his
efforts in public speeches to hide his
Congress Party's embarrassment by glossing over the Com-
munist election victory there.
Nehru told these lead-
ers that the situation in Kerala should be watched with care.
He said that, despite the Communists' declarations that they
would operate constitutionally, the Communist ideology is "a
disruptive creed" and it is difficult to change it basically.
Nehru felt the danger should not be overestimated, but he
recognized that the Communists would make Kerala the base
for their operations in other parts of India and that they would
proceed with caution and steadiness. He urged Congress Party
members to work hard to regain their role as champions of the
people in Kerala.
There is considerable evidence that other
Indian government leaders are also aware of the dangers of
Communist control in Kerala. Nehru's public utterances, how-
ever, tend to favor the Communists by creating in the minds
of Indians and others an impression that he is more tolerant
than he actually is.
25 Aug 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 7
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03169379