CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1959/10/30

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03003522
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RIPPUB
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U
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14
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February 25, 2020
Document Release Date: 
February 27, 2020
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Publication Date: 
October 30, 1959
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//d ZZZZ/ZZ/ZZ/Z/ZZZZZ/i/ Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 11:ECRET Nowl' 3.5(c) / tot) 3.3(h)(2) 30 October 1959 Copy No. C CENTRAL TELLIGENCE BULLETIN DOCUMENT NO. _ NO CHANGE IN CLASS. DECLASSIFIED GLASS. CHANGED TO: TS r..) NEXT REVIEW [)AT': AUTH� DATE, PEVIEWER� CRET yyjZZj WZ,ZZ Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C 03003522 ern WZMWZMA Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 Approved for Release: 2020i02/21 C03003522 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 sis 30 OCTOBER 1959 I. THE COMMUNIST BLOC Chinese Communists apparently seeking to increase their influence in Asian Com- munist movements at the expense of Soviet influence. Renewed factional struggle in Hungarian Communist party. I I. ASIA-AFRICA Syrian Communist leader discusses Com- munist tactics regarding Iraq and UAR. 0 UAR reinforces army units in eastern Sinai. Israeli Government asks Shah of Iran to convey its good will to Jordanian King. Sudan--Junior army officers continue preparations for early coup; their pros- pects for success are doubtful. FrPoPT Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 I I I. THE WEST Venezuela--Economic difficulties may bring on political crisis. oR Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 %La I CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN 30 October 1959 DAILY BRIEF I. THE COMMUNIST BLOC Communist China - USSR: Peiping's desire to diminish Soviet influence and increase Chinese influence in Asian Com- munist movements was indicated to Mao Tse-tung suggested that the problems facing Asian Communists are better appreciated by the Chinese' who are closer to the scene3 (Page 1) Hungary: itctional clashes within the politburo and central committee of the Hungarian party reportedly again erupted dur- ing this fall's pre-congress discussions of the draft Five-Year Plan for 1961-65. Party functionaries expect the expulsion of anti-Kadar dissidents from the leadership at the congress, which opens on 30 November. These Stalinist elements are said to have attacked party First Secretary Kadar's policies on agricul- tural collectivization and consumer goods production, in terms reMiniscent of those used by former party leader Rakosi in his attacks against the relatively liberal "New Course" in 19553 (Page 2) Correction� D For a fuller version of the f\I item, see Part III: Page 1 of the Current Intelligence Weekly Review and Current Intelligence Weekly Summary dated 29 Octo- ber 1959, VA TO CRET AApproved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522' Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 C- IL ASIA-AFRICA Arab Communists: (The exiled Syrian Communist leader, Rialid Bakdash, early this month told the secretary general of the Lebanese Communist party that Iraq should be kept neu- tral for the time being. He also urged the Lebanese party to assist Iraqi Communists in avoiding a return to their "incor- rect extremist policy." Bakdash, who met the Lebanese party chief in Moscow, said that he felt the Soviet attitude toward ?Nasir was "hardening." He counseled Syrian-Lebanese Commu- nists to continue their strong opposition to UAR policies and to stress Egypt's "exploitation" of Syria, but to avoid calling for dissolution of the union.] (Page 4) iTAR-Israel: The UAR� has reinforced its army units in eastern Sinai with an infantry battalion "as part of the plan to safeguard the Eastern Front and the advanced stockpiling operations." another stage in the gradual re- bIdgFUAluitarysireagth along the Israeli border. A UAR air squadron was to be prepared in anticipation that there might be Israeli air reconnaissance missions in reaction to the transfer of the battalion. two separate overflights of Egyptian territor lay Tgraeli aircraft. Air clashes are a distinct possibility. israel-Jordan- an: 'The o ran, w visit Jordan beginning 2 November, has been asked to convey a message of Israeli goodwill to King Husayn. The request was made by Israeli Foreign Minister Meir, and reflects her govern- ment's continued interest in the peuetuation of Husayn's regime u and its independence from Nasir. iThe Israelis already have a channel to Jordan through their intelligence relationships with an and Turkey:( (Page 5)_ ,m�M ��� Sudan: (Disgruntled junior army officers are continuing their preparations for an early coup attempt despite their knowl- edge that the government is aware of some aspects of their plan- ning and the identity of many of their adherents. They havO 30 Oct 59 DAILY BRIEF TOP S Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 11 4Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522/ Qostponed initiation of their move several times, but they seem to believe that they can succeed, even without a strong element of surprise. The Abboud government is unstable and unpopular, and the dissident officers are reported to have strong backing in the Eastern and Central commands, but loyal military forces ap- pear capable of thwarting any move by these elements in the im- mediate future) 1110 '11-IE W.E; ST Venezuela: Economic problems confronting the coalition of President Betancourt could touch off a political crisis. Depletion of the country's' foreign exchange and signs of growing opposition to foreign investments in iron and oil are causing a loss of business confidence. Betancourt's broad military and civilian support was recently demonstrated when the government cted against conspira- torial activity, but considerable unrest apparently prevails beneath the surface calm. The mid-October transfer of 30 military officers to posts outside Caracas suggests that some dissidence exists within the armed forces. Page 6) IV. SIGNIFICANT INTELLIGENCE REPORTS AND ESTIMATES (Available during the preceding week) Austria's Position Between East and West. SNIE 25-59, 27 Oct 59, 30 Oct 59 DAILY BRIEF iii 14. TO ECRET Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 ,e'RET I. THE COMMUNIST BLOC Mao Tse-tung Indicates Desire to Increase Influence in Asian Communist Parties 'Peiping's desire to diminish Soviet influence and iprreaRp its own in Asian Communist movements were indicated to I Mao Tse-tung hinted that the Chinese want to lead the Asian Communist parties on the grounds that the problems facing Asian Communists are better appreciated by the Chinese-01 Whatever its claims to keener insight into Asian Communist problems, Peiping's advice, like Moscow's,has in fact served pri- marily to advance its own foreign policy interests and only second- arily the interests of the Asian Communists. The Indian Commu- nists, for example, were asked by Peiping to take a pro-Chinese stand on the Tibet revolt. Later, they were embarrassed by ve- hement Chinese statements�including attacks on "Indian expan- sionists"--and had to advise the Chinese to moderate their attacks on New Delhi.1 iPeiping in the past year has had considerable contact with Communist leaders from Japan, Indonesia, and India. In an ef- fort to avoid the appearance of directly challenging Moscow's in- fluence, however, Chinese counsel has generally been offered as complementary to rather than competitive with that of the USSR. Peiping apparently agreed with Soviet advice to the Indian Commu- nists to rely on "parliamentary means" to come to power; but the Chinese went on to counsel the Indian party to adopt a "tougher" line than it has previously followed in opposing certain policies of the Congress party. "United front" tactics for the Japanese Communists, apparently sanctioned by Moscow, were reaffirmed as appropriate for the Japanese party in the communique signed in Peiping on 20 October between Liu Sliao-chi and party chairman Nosaka.I SEC 30 Oct 59 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 Page 1 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21-003003522 3 tLicfI Hungarian Party Factionalism on Eve oitvongress /Acrimonious factional debate within the politburo and central committee of the Hungarian party has broken out over the extent and direction of agricultural and industrial development during the period of the next Five-Year Plan, 1961-65, The last time a factional struggle within the Hungarian party reached sim- ilar heights--at the party conference in June 1957--it was glossed over, but the basic issues were not resolved. Intraparty unity was again threatened during the December 1958 central committee meeting, by the decision to speed up collectivizatiorq, fft_alinist elements led by Depaty Premier and politburo mem- ber Antal Apro, Minister of Heavy Industry Janos Czergo, and the director of the party's central school, Geza Kassai, favor a more rapid completion of agricultural collectivization and greater em- phasis on the expansion of heavy industry than is called for in party leader Kadar's draft plan. The group reportedly advanced its views at a central committee meeting in September, but was rebuffed by ICadar's supporters, from whom politburo member Jena Fock was then designated to present the draft plan to the Congress on 30 November instead of Apro� who was reportedly in line for the assignment. apro then is said to have formalized his objections in a memo- randum which he asked Soviet Ambassador Shtykov to forward to Moscow. Shtykov is known to have left for Moscow unexpectedly on 26 October. In the meantime, Apro has twice taken issue pub- licly with the draft plan's provisions on agriculture. On 16 Octo- ber he called for the complete "socialist" reorganization of agri- culture by 1965--a goal carefully avoided in the plan--and on 24 October he said that present conditions favor the "total socialist transformation" of the villages within the next five years:4 Ca_se pite these implicit disagreements, Apro was chosen to deliver a report on deficiencies in Hungary's present economic planning to another central committee meeting on 22 October. While no decision on his future has apparently yet been made!! SEC 30 Oct 59 CFKITRAI INTFI I I(FJC IlIITIkI Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 Page 2 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 JRiT party functionaries reportedly anticipate that Apro and his ex- tremist colleagues will be demoted at the congress. Press crit- icism of "dogmatists" and "sectarians"--ostensibly within the party's lower ranks--has become increasingly bitter during the past four weeks, suggesting that Kadar may be planning decisive action to overcome the influence of Stalinist elements in both the higher and lower levels of the party apparatus-d CR 30 Oct 59 Page 3 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 CO3003522 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 �SLkf(It.1 7.L ASIA-AFRICA Bakdash States' Views. on (�ompunibrn S rian Communist leader Khalid Bakdash, now in exile in the Communist bloc, said early this m'onth that he believed Iraq should be kept neutral for the present. Speaking in Moscow to the secretary general of the :Lebanese Communist party, Nicolas Shawi, Bakdash voiced the hope tat the Lebanese Com- munists would give "sensible advice" to their Iraqi counterparts who, he said, had realized their previous extremist policy had been wrorig), Lon Soviet-UAR relations, Bakdash said Moscow's attitude toward Nasir was "hardening" and implied that, although the USSR had not attacked Nasir politically as yet, such action is likely to occur if his accommodation with the West reaches the point where his personal popularity and influence in the Arab world become vtnerable. Meanwhile, Bakdash advised Arab Communists to keep up their attacks on Nasir's policies, empha- sizing Egyptian "exploitation" of Syria but not calling for dis- solution of the union. Bakdash further advised the Lebanese Communist party to continue supporting Prime Minister Karami, whom he considered a lesser evil than other candidates for the Lebanese premiershii5.4 (Shawl. told Bakdash that since Nasir's crackdown there were probably between 200 and 300 Communists underground in Syria, with their activities limited to keeping the party alive. He gave the impression that the Nasir regime was keeping the lid on tiffht In this connection, UAR security forces have picked up two Bulgarianol who were allegedly engaged in "sub- versive Communist activity" in Syria. they were to be deported with the utmost spj 30 Oct 59 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 Page 4 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 I Shah Asked to Give Friendly Israeli Message to Jordan's King Husayn Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir, has requested that, when the Shah of Iran visits Jordan on 2 November, he convey a message of Israeli good will to King Husayn. Mrs. Meir reportedly said that Israel has always had friendly feelings toward the King personally, citing the fact that at the time the British were sending emergency aid to Jordan following the Iraqi revolution, "He did not prevent the flight of their planes over Israel." Her remarks reflect Israel's continued interest in the per- petuation of Husayn's relatively weak regime as an alternative to a Nasir-dominated Jordan. Israel and Jordan have a 330-mile com- mon border, passing about 12 miles from Tel Aviv, which would b difficult for Israel to defend. fin the past Israel has stressed that if a pro-Nasir regime should come to power in Jordan, Israel would probably feel compelled--as a "defensive" measure--to oc- cupy West Jordan--the Palestinian sector of the country west of the Jordan River:' Mrs. Meir made similar cordial references to Husayn last April, calling him a courageous young man with hitherto unsus- pected potentialities for leadership. At that time, in a conversa- tion with the American charge, she said Israel had no complaint about the Jordanian Government's attitude, and that she was con- vinced the occasional border incidents were unrelated to any Jor- danian policy. (Husayn probably will welcome the message, since he has been concerned over what Israel's reaction might be if Jordan found it "necessary" to preserve the integrity of its borders or even to take some sort of action in Iraq. He remains in contact with a group of royalist Iraqi exiles who want him to aid their plans to re-establish the Iraqi monarchy-.1 [Iran, like Turkey an indirect channel to Jordan for Israel, has cordial though informal relations with the Israelis. Israel has pro- moted a close intelligence relations:lip with Iran and imports Iranian oil through its Gulf of Aaaba nort of Mini- 30 Oct 59 r clan) A I I rr.ii a P.91.1\ I Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 Page 5 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 III. THE WEST Situation in Venezuela Venezuelan President Betancourt% coalition is confronted by economic problems�especially a decline of foreign exchange and a loss of business confidence--which could touch off a serious political crisis. At the end of August,Venezuelan exchange re- serves, although the highest in Latin America, had dropped to about $9301000,000, and less than a third of this amount was in liquid dollar reserves, which have been dwindling rapidly. The president of Venezuela's largest oil company has expressed con- cern that the need for foreign exchange may cause the sale of gold that makes up the remainder of the exchange reserves, and that this would cause a complete loss of confidence abroad and a panic in Venezuela. He said the government had already asked the oil industry to buy $300,000,000 worth of short-term treasury notes. The uncertainty has been compounded by rumors of plotting and financial deterioration; by recent policy statements by the minister of mines unfavorable to the economically important for- eign-owned oil and mininginterest�;andby the threat of a paralyz- ing strike accompanied by violence if negotiations for a new oil- worker g contract fail. The basic stability of Betancourt% regime was demonstrated by the broad civilian and military support which rallied to him af- ter the government arrested about 40 persons in Caracas for con- spiratorial activity on 12-13 October. The recent transfer of 30 military officers to posts outside the capital suggests, however, that dissidence is present in some degree in the armed forces. 0 0 0 0 0 30 Oct 59 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 6 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 THE PRESIDENT The Vice President Executive Offices of the White House Special Assistant for National Security Affairs Scientific Adviser to the President Director of the Budget Office of Defense and Civilian Mobilization Director, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Special Assistant for Security Operations Coordination Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities Special Assistant for Foreign Economic Policy Executive Secretary, National Security Council The Treasury Department The Secretary of the Treasury The Department of State The Secretary of State The Under Secretary of State The Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs The Deputy Under Secretary for Political Affairs The Deputy Under Secretary for Administration The Counselor Director, International Cooperation Administration The Director of Intelligence and Research The Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense The Deputy Secretary of Defense Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs The Secretary of the Army The Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Air Force The Chairman, The Joint Chiefs of Staff Commandant, United States Marine Corps The Director, The Joint Staff Chief of Staff, United States Army Chief of Naval Operations, United States Navy Chief of Staff, United States Air Force Assistant to Secretary of Defense for Special Operations Director for Intelligence, The Joint Staff Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Department of Army Director of Naval Intelligence, Department of Navy Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Department of the Air Force Supreme Allied Commander, Europe Commander in Chief, Pacific The Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce Federal Bureau of Investigation The Director Atomic Energy Commission The Chairman National Security Agency The Director National Indications Center The Director Approved for Release: 2020/02/21 C03003522 Approved �r Reie '21