INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS DIVISION WEEKLY SUMMARY NO. 41
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CIA-RDP79-01090A000100020011-7
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RIFPUB
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S
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4
Document Creation Date:
December 9, 2016
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September 13, 2000
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11
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Publication Date:
October 11, 1949
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PERRPT
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INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS DIVISION
WEEKLY SUMMARY NO. 41
For week ending 11 October 1949
The International Week
Volume II
In a week highlighted by Soviet creation of a puppet re-
gime in Eastern Germany, the UN awaited a new USSR disarmament
proposal. Meanwhile,, as the GA debated the Italian colonies
issue,, it was apparent that partition of Eritrea, urged by, the
US was unlikely to be approved. In. Washington, following the
Atlantic Pact Defense Corrrn1ttee ? s initial session last week,,
the Military Committee met to set up the pact's defense organi-
zation.
uuS?position on Brit ea laces GA def at. It is now virtu=-
ally certain that outright cession cif the bulk of Eritrea to
Ethiopia 9 as favored by the US and UK. will not be approved by
the GA. The Latin American,, Arab, and Asiatic blocs are solidly
opposed, and current UN testimony by representatives of local
independence groups will further strengthen their stand o Under
these circumstances the USUN delegation suggests working for a
compromise solution which will secure as much as possible for
Ethiopia while protecting US irterests in Eritrea. UK sources
propose cession to Fthiopaia of only those Coptic areas desiring
union (the boundaries to be drawn by a UN commission), hoping
that the difficulty of separating these areas from the rest of
Eritrea would force the commission to cede all but the Western
province to I;,hiopia. USUN believes that a formula more likely
to command GA support woull be confederation of Ethiopia and
Eritrea,, with safeguards for Eritrean autonomy,, Both Italy and
Ethiopia have given some indicatiora that they night accede to
such a course. Whirs it thus has a better chance of success
than the initial US--UK position, opposition to any ty' I ..hg of-
Eritrea to Ethiopia will remain strong, however, and postpone-
ment while a UN cor.missioi visits t 'territory will have much
appeal.
Meanwhile if the Latin American bloc sticks to its deci-
sion to tie Libyan independence to Italian trusteeship for
Somaliland, Italy's prospects will lmproveo However, the in-
creasingly vocal hostility of the local population to Italian
return is a powerful counter factor, and the outcome is still
in doubt. DOCUMENT NO.
NO CH ArtNGE 1. 1
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The Cemmunit:sponsore "In ernationai Day of Struggle ror
Peace" on 2 October obtained only scattered popular support in
those Western countries where demonstrations were staged. _De-
st lte-av- -uriirecederitediv hea w b rase of Soviet .bxo do sts., the.
dries to mobilize "the peopl.e'' against their "aggressor" govern--
;r:ents produced only: (1) a peace demonstration of about 160,000
in Paris- (2) scattered meetings in Rome celebrating "Italian-
Russian friendship month"; (3) an assembly of 1,200 partisans in
Mexico City; (4) a few street riots in Brazil; and (5) a "National
Labor Conference" in Chicago. The relativel ? disappointing turn-
out in Paris, hub of the World. Peace Movearen , reflects the ap-
parent failure of the Peace Partisans to link the "struggle for
peace" with the immediate wage demands of the French working
classes. A more pointed effort to connect the peace movement
with local Communist objectives was made at the Mexico city meet-
ing where the Communist Party leader proposed establishment of a
"national committee in defense of our petroleum." In the US, the
Chicago "National Labor Conference in Defense of Pease" demon-
strated the willingness of 42 leftwing CIO and APL ufivns to sup-
port the principal "peace objectives" enunciated by Soviet For-
eign Minister Vishinsky in the UN. The decision of these unions
to forma a permanent organization in Chicago way also' foreshadow
the early emergence of a third, Communist-oriented 1S labor move-
ment
YuaosllavA,nti.-met tactic$ in OA. While studiousl
avoiding presentation of any -specific complaint against the USSR,
Belgrade has displayed both versatility and ingenuity in Its
methods of embarrassing Moscow. After its bid for a seat in the
Security Council, Yugoslavia recently contrived to exploit the
ordinarily minor league Legal Committee of the GA try filing a
proposal which, while omitting direct mention of. the USSR, unc
mistakably condemns Soviet methods of aggression through foment-
ing civil war, disturbances and terrorism within the territory
of other states. TLIs proposal was submitted as an amendment
to the International Law Commission?s draft "Declaration of the
Rights and Duties ot States," which comes before the Legal Com-
mittee. While the Yugoslav proposal embodies no novel principle
of international law, its pointed phraseology constitues a neat
propaganda thrust against the Kremlin. Yugoslavia also us4l
the Economic Committee, which is considering Point IV Ad as a
platform from which to denounce use of joint Soviet-Satellite
corporations as a means of economic exploitation. Through these
tactics, Tito is achieving a strong condemnation of the USSR
without raking a formal case.
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Egypt Is, motives i n ressi f r Jerusalem de ilit r zati .
Egypt?s evident determination to place the issue of Jerusalem's
demilitarization on the SC agenda is certain to generate fresh
political wrangles without any constructive result. The GA res-
olution of 11 December 1948 recuested the SC to demilitarize
the Holy City "at the earliest possible date." Although Jordan
and Israel have since concluded an armistice and the Palestine
Conciliation Commission has been studying the matter, this re-
quest to the SC has never been acted on. Raising the question
at this time will agitate political controversy at a time when
the ESM is seeking to focus attention on the economic issues in
the troubled Near East. But the Egyptians seem bent on keeping
Palestine political issues in the foreground to embarrass Israel
even though the consequences of doing so may be largely negative.
Plans to counter the Soyi t "peace" proposal. The main
problem in answering the Soviet GA propaganda attack on the US
and UK is to deflect the thrust without giving the USSR an
opportunity to claim credit for whatever resolution is ulti-
mately adopted. There are three possible ways to r..eet the
Soviet "peace" proposal: (1) merely voting it down (there is no
chance of the GA failing to take some acticn on the subject);
(2) amending the proposal to make it innocuous; and (3) making
a counterproposal. The UK and US have tentatively agreed to
propose a counter-resolution which, after noting that the UN
Charter contains all the principles needed to maintain peace,
calls on all nations to refrain from direct or indirect aggres-
sion, participate fully in the UN specialized agencies, grant
access to UN bodies, remove barriers to the free exchange of in-
formation between countries and urging restraint in the use of
the veto. The British lean toward a resolution more sharply
pointed at the USSR than does the US, and friendly GA delegations
are being sounded out to find out how far they would go along.
There is great danger that any Anglo--US resolution will eventu-
ally be watered down by the GA. It is important, however, that
whatever resolution is finally adopted should represent a new
proposal rather than a mere amendment of the Soviet text for
which the U&R would claim credit in its propaganda. In any case,
it is going to be difficult to prevent the Russians from doing
just this. McNeil (UK) therefore favors a proposal so strongly
worded that the USSR will have to disclaim it.
The announcement of an atomic explosion inside the USSR has
contributed to a feeling of urgency in the GA that immediate,
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action of some sort must be taken to deal with the global arms
race now under way. Reflecting this anxiety is the Argentine
plan to set up a conciliation commission composed of past and
present non-permanent members of the SC to study the causes of
the breach between the permanent SC members and the failure to
agree on establishing a UR1 police force and controlling atomic
energy. Unless the US and UK can present the GA with some
constructive alternative, they may be faced with exactly some
such woolly small nation effort to "relieve" East-West tension
as that suggested by the Argentine.
East-West struggle for ke nd s ria unions s read to
Latin America. Recent developments on the Latin American labor
front indicate that the struggle between the Sovietized WFTU
and Western labor lez dens for the control of labor within
particular industries may soon spread to this area. The anti-
Communist Mexican Labor Federation (CTS{) has demonstrated core
cern over discussions between representatives of the Mexican
Miners Unicn and the Communist-influenced CIO Mine, Mill and
Smelters Union regarding plans for an inter-American mine and
metal workers federation.. With this development apparently in
mind the CTM leader, Fernando Amilpa' recently intimated that
the CTM would favor a grouping of Latin American labor unions
into continental federations for each trade in preference to
the AFL-sponsored Inter-American Federation of Lahr (CIT).
The Mexican Federation's attitude, rejecting the CIT as "only
one more central," may also reflect its desire to combat cur-
rent efforts of the WFTU and Lombardo Toledano's CTAL to organize
key industries intern; tionally In WFTU "trade departrrent s .. " It
apparently considers that organization of Latin American wo-kers
within each industry would be a more realistic response to the
Communist challenge. Although Jis own ideas regarding such a
regrouping are still only in the blueprint stage, the C'h'M may
find support for this position from other Latin American labor
federations dissatisfied with AFL mentorship.
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