CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/12/19

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03176908
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: December 19, 1957

for ivlass:20.212L.10
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
3.5(c)
19 December 1957
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EV1EWER:
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOPS ET
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CONTENTS
14--t� 1. USSR TO TRANSFER VISA AUTHORITY TO EAST
GERMANY (page 3).
)2,0
2. ROLE OF SOVIET PARTY SECRETARIAT ENHANCED
(page 4).
3. USSR EXPANDING USE OF SEMIAUTOMATIC AIR
DEFENSE COMMUNICATIONS (page 5).
4. SITUATION IN INDONESIA
(page 6).
�-it- 5. FRANCE MAY PRESS FOR H-BOMBS
(page 7).
9-A- 6. INDICATIONS OF BRITISH SHIFT TOWARD US POSITION
ON COMMUNIST CHINA (page 8).
7. JAPANESE FIRM OFFERS TO LEASE SHIPS FOR
INDONESIA (page 9).
AO 8. KING SAUD INCREASES SECURITY PRECAUTIONS
(page 11).
1,24)
9. YEMEN SEEKING SAUDI FINANCIAL AID TO MEET
COMMITMENTS TO SOVIET BLOC
(page 12).
10. THE SITUATION IN CUBA
19 Dec 57
(page 13).
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 2
TOP SECRET
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Now, �1�00;
1. USSR TO TRANSFER VISA AUTHORITY
TO EAST GERMANY
Comment on:
ThW German Democratic Republic is
to have complete visa authority by
1 January 1958 over American, Brit-
ish, and French nationals--official as
well as nonofficial--entering or crossing East Germany
except "troop personnel and materials" of the Allied Berlin
garrisons. This decision was reached during talks between
East German officials in Berlin and Soviet Deputy Foreign
Minister Zorin from 25 to 28 November, according to a re-
port believed credible by the American mission in Berlin.
Personnel of the Western embassies in
Warsaw and Moscow who normally cross East Germany
traveling to and from their posts would be directly affected
by this procedure, as would the personnel attached to Allied
military missions in Potsdam. Additionally, a narrow def-
inition of "troop personnel" could be used to compel Allied
civilian officials traveling between the Federal Republic and
West Berlin to accept documentation and processing by East
German rather than Russian officials.
Enforcement of such visa requirements
would not only establish a precedent for further restrictions
on Allied travel in East Germany but would also strengthen
the Communist claim of East German sovereignty. In the
event that the Allies retaliate by banning Soviet military and
all East German travel in West Germany, Soviet Zone author-
ities are said to be prepared to stop all Allied travel through
East Germany except for personnel of the Berlin garrisons.
19 Dec 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 3
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2. ROLE OF SOVIET PARTY SECRETARIAT ENHANCED
comment on:
The secretariat, executive organ of
the Soviet Communist party under
Khrushchev as first secretary, may
now replace the presidium as the
executive seat of power in the USSR.
The plenum of the Soviet party central committee which
took place on 16 and 17 December added three party pre-
sidium members to the party secretariat, raising the
membership of that body to eleven.
The three new secretaries, Nuritdin
Mikhitdinov, Aleksey Kirichenko, and Nikolay Ignatov,
who are considered Khrushchev partisans, will presum-
ably relinquish their provincial party posts for full-time
work in Moscow.
Khrushchev may have maneuvered three
additional. men into the secretariat in order to increase the
power of that group. Since 10 of the 15 full members of the
party presidium, the top-level policy-making body, are now
members of the secretariat, the move may have the effect
of bypassing nonmembers of the secretariat--among others,
Bulganin, Voroshilov, and Mikoyan. At the same time, the
diffusion of responsibility among a greater number of secre-
taries will limit the opportunity of any one secretary, such
as Suslov, to rival First Secretary Khrushchev effectively.
According to recent reports, Suslov is widely considered in
East European Communist circles to be a "Stalinist" rival
to Khrushchev.
19 Dec 57
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Nos,
3. USSR EXPANDING USE OF SEMIAUTOMATIC AIR
DEFENSE COMMUNICATIONS
Comment on:
Semiautomatic air defense communi-
cations facilities, first noted in Euro-
pean Russia, have now appeared in
several additional areas there and in
the Soviet Far East. This semiauto-
matic system is presently in limited use, but when fully
operational, will correct a major deficiency in the Soviet
air defense capability and may be the most important single
Improvement since the introduction of improved radars in
1951.
The new system, first noted in Sep-
tember 1956, is essentially an electronic means for rapid
transmission of air defense data. It will afford greatly im-
proved fighter direction through faster relay of ground-con-
trolled-interception data to pilots, probably in visual form
on the cockpit panel. Further, it will permit more effec-
tive employment of larger numbers of aircraft in intercept
missions.
19 Dec 57
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TOP SECRET
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**mei
4. SITUATION IN INDONESIA
Comment on:
President Sukarno's departure early
in January for a six-weekt, rest in
India now is firmly established, and
final arrangements are being quietly
discussed with the Indian government,
In-
dia's Premier Nehru is
stating that Sukarno would
be welcome at any time and that he
could stay as long as he liked. Nehru
refused, however, to issue a formal
invitation because he feared it would
"embarrass" his government in its relations with Western
countries.
despite miitary efforts to bring order from the
created by the anti-Dutch campaign, the econom-
ic picture is one of "complete disruption." the
food situation is particularly bad and that a prolonged food
crisis is unavoidable, since it will take time to reorganize
the distribution system and get the transport system working
again. the Communists are
trying to secure control of rice stores in the Javanese vil-
lages and use them to aggravate the situation.
On the island of Ambon, anti-Djakarta
sentiment among army troops apparently has been further
intensified by the arrest of several officers by the local army
commander, and the local navy commander fears the outbreak
of violence. He has requested increased navy support in the
area in the event dissident leaders in East Indonesia try to
send aid to the anti-Djakarta faction.
19 Dec 57
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5. FRANCE MAY PRESS FOR H-BOMBS
Comment on:
suggestion that France should have
-bombs, advanced during a November
onference on A-bombs attended by top-
evel French army officers, may presage
diplomatic approach on this subject to the United States,
robably after the present NATO conference. One speaker
drew applause from the meeting with the statement that the
army wanted "a few" H-bombs "to carry out reprisals,"
There have been previous hints of French
military interest in H-bombs. However, recent military and
diplomatic efforts have been directed at acquiring possession
of atomic 'weapons either through NATO, directly from the
United States, or through a national production program.
Nevertheless, intensely nationalist-minded
members of the government such as Defense Minister Chaban-
Delmas and Interior Minister Bourges-Maunoury can be ex-
pected to try to edge France into the category of an H-bomb
power once it has established an A-weapon capability.
19 Dec 57
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6. INDICATIONS OF BRITISH SHIFT TOWARD US POSITION
ON COMMUNIST CHINA
Comment on:
British Foreign Secretary Lloyd and
umerous Conservative members of
Parliament appear to have changed their
opinions and now privately oppose wider
recognition of Communist China.
In discussions this week with Ambassador
Whitney, some 40 Conservative Members of Parliament ex-
pressed satisfaction that the United States has not yielded to
earlier British persuasions but has continued to recognize and
support Taipei. As reasons for the shift, Whitney suggests--
among other things�concern over the growing influence of the
Asian-African bloc in the UN which might be reinforced if Com-
munist China became a member, appreciation of the need for
Overseas Chinese--particularly those in Malaya--to have a
counteratttaction UP Peiping, and the growing disillusion over
prospects for increased trade with China.
Whitney doubts, however, that there will
be any public change in Britain's policy toward Peiping in the
near future and believes the Conservative MP's will continue to
maintain publicly that Britain was right in recognizing a de facto
situation on the mainland. The Labor opposition's commitment
to Chinese COmmunist representation in the UN--which is
strongly endorsed by British public opinion--indicates the dif-
ficulty the Macmillan government would encounter in any attempt
to change its long-standing China policy.
19 Dec 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 8
CONFIDENT-17th
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7. JAPANESE FIRM OFFERS TO LEASE SHIPS
FOR INDONESIA
Comment on:
Japan appears to be moving cautious-
ly to provide Indonesia with coastal
shipping, although Foreign Minister
Fujiyama, concerned over possible
anti-Japanese repercussions in Eu-
rope, announced on 17 December that
_his government could not comply with
an Indonesian request to charter Jap-
anese ships.
On the same date, the Japanese Trans-
portation Ministry announced that two Japanese shipping firms
had offered to sell Indonesia up to six coastal ships of 2,000
tons, and an Indonesian spokesman said in Djakarta that Jap-
anese ships would be arriving in two or three weeks to help
restore the vital interisland shipping traffic.
Japan's ambassador at The Hague has
warned Tokyo that popular sentiment in the Netherlands and
throughout Western Europe is extremely unfavorable toward
Indonesia. He added that providing ships would have an ad-
verse effect on the implementation of future Japanese policies
19 Dec 57
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TOP SECRE'i
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NIS Niue
toward Europe. A Japanese correspondent in Djakarta, how-
ever, has cabled Tokyo that no matter how the political situa-
tion in Indonesia turns out, the promotion of economic ties be-
tween Japan and Indonesia is inevitable.
The government reaction to these views
has been to divorce itself publicly from official involvement in
the issue in order to avoid adverse international repercussions.
At the same time, it appears to be giving quiet support to the
commercial lease of private shipping in order to develop long-
sought economic ties with Indonesia.
19 Dec 57
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Nord aore
8. KING SAUD INCREASES SECURITY PRECAUTIONS
Comment on:
King Saud has ordered tighter secu-
rity measures in recent weeks, not
only on a national basis but also to en-
sure his own personal safety.
TOP SECRET EIDER the King issued orders to
tne Interior Ministry and other security
agencies to intensify vigilance in view of "the many enemies
of Saudi Arabia!' As a result of these instructions, the direc-
tor general of customs ordered tighter security measures at
all "airports where aircraft arrive from abroad," and a
search of all passenger luggage "without exception." On 15
December the King instituted new security precautions in the
preparation and serving of his food, following a report that
attempts were being made to poison him.
19 Dec 57
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9. YEMEN SEEKING SAUDI FINANCIAL AID TO MEET
COMMITMENTS TO SOVIET BLOC
Comment on:
The Imam of Yemen is pressing King
Saud for the balance of the $10,000,000
loan granted Yemen early in 1956. The
Saudis have thus far made available
only $3,000,000 which Yemen appar-
ently has committed largely for Soviet bloc arms. Yemen
Is now being pressed to begin payment for bloc economic
aid, and is also about to assume further obligations to bloc
countries for aid materials and military and civilian special-
ists,
King Saud,
who is also experiencing a shortage of foreign exchange,
against meeting the Imam's request at this stage.
the Imam had not fulfilled his agreement to
provide information on how the funds had been used, and
"all he has done as far as we know is to buy arms from
Czechoslovakia:'
19 Dec 57
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10. THE SITUATION IN CUBA
Comment on:
Cuban rebel leaders are believed to
have completed plans to step up rev-
olutionary activities against President
Batista during the last days of Decem-
ber. Action, possibly planned for Christmas week, may
include attempts to assassinate military leaders. Rebel
leader Fidel Castro's limited success in his campaign to
burn sugar fields and his apparent inability to instigate a
"general revolutionary strike" are probably at least partly
responsible for the decision to increase terrorism.
Castro's capability for antigovernment
operations has grown since he opened his guerrilla cam-
paign a year ago. He now has greater popular support,
especially in Oriente Province, and his forces have in-
creased and now are better organized and equipped. With-
out the active support of the armed forces, the labor move-
ment, and other important elements, however, it is unlikely
he can unseat the government.
President Batista continues to keep an
iron grip on the political situation. He suspended constitu-
tional guarantees on 15 December for another 45-day period--
the seventh such suspension in a year.
19 Dec 57
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