CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A001500040001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 9, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 16, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

003/010 " 'Q0975
rod
16 March 1.954
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS S 0
NEXT REVIEW DATE: _,-,c-0Q. D-9
AUTH; HR 70-2
PATE:4; T /2/49_ REVIEWER;
rI l7ECLAssIFIEp
OOwMEIJT NO.
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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TOP SECRET
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SUMMARY
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3. Bohlen sees Sino-Soviet differences over Geneva arrangements
(page 4.
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French commander describes assault on Dien Bien Phu (page 7).
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7. Burma refuses to change present cease-fire plan (page 7).
SOUTH ASIA
8. Pakistan to take Kashmir dispute to Security Council soon (page 8).
EASTERN EUROPE
9. Czechs may be producing improved MIG fighter (page 9).
WESTERN EUROPE
Communist sympathizer repor a in line for top Italian military
post (page 10).
LATIN AMERICA
12. Guatemala may lead anticolonial attack at Caracas (page 10).
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3. Bohlen sees Sino-Soviet differences over Geneva arrangements-
Chinese response to the Berlin agreement on Geneva was not overly the
enthusiastic. He suggests that the Kremlin may have had to justify to
Peiping Molotov's failure to obtain acceptance of great-power status
for China. It is possible, Bohlen reasons, that the Chinese, having
swallowed the original Berlin decision, now object to having their
inferior status emphasized by the proposal that the four powers as a
group should be responsible for preliminary Geneva arrangements.
Comment. The Soviet Union was also
notably slow in making arrangements for the Berlin conference.
Peiping propaganda clearly shows gratifi-
cation over Communist China's scheduled appearance at Geneva, which
it consistently presents as a major step toward gaining general inter-
national acceptance. It is unlikely that the Chinese anticipated any role
in making official, preparations for the conference.
Ambassador Bohlen believes that the USSR's
delay in agreeing to prepare for the Geneva
conference may be attributed to difficulties
with Communist China He b 1L4
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6. French commander describes assault on Dien Bien Phu:
General Navarre told the governor of Tonkin
that the Viet Minh attack on Dien Bien Phu
which began on 14 March was of "unprece-
dented.fary" He said that one Viet Minh
division lost 40 percent of its effectives.
Navarre said he "hoped" the Fr
h f
enc
orces
at Dien Bien Phu would be able to hold. He added that if they were able'
to resist such onslaughts as the first, "the Viet Minh battle force will
have been broken."
Comment: The American army attache on
14 March reported that the Viet Minh's initial series of attacks had suc-
ceeded in overrunning one of the more lightly defended French positions.,
wiping out the defending force of one Foreign Legion battalion. Two
other strong points had repulsed the attacks and had inflicted heavy
enemy casualties.
Since then, the French have flown in one
paratroop battalion, which roughly replaces their losses. Though
heavily outnumbered, the French retain the advantage of greater
firepower.
Burma
q
es
:
ora revision
of the present cease-fire plan for the evacuation of Chinese Nationalist
forces. Sebald believes Rangoon's decision on the matter is final.
IJl v eii6 cease-care plan:
Acting Foreign Minister Kyaw Nyein told
Ambassador Sebald in Rangoon on 14 March
that his government "found it impossible" to
accede to the American re
u
t
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Comment. As of 15 March the cease-fire
area was to be restricted to a small assembly area near the Thai
border. To date, 4,700 Chinese have been withdrawn, and plans had
been under discussion to bring out an additional 2,500 troops. Burma's
attitude appears virtually to end all hopes that this latter group will
come out.
Rangoon's decision appears to reflect its
confidence that the Burmese armed forces can bring under control
the estimated 7,000 Chinese troops remaining in Burma. Burmese
forces could achieve this objective, however, only at the cost of
lessened military pressure on domestic Communists and other insur-
gent forces.
SOUTH ASIA
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8. Pakistan to take Kashmir dispute to Security Council soon.
that he has received an official letter from Prime Minister Nehru saying
there is no reason for another meeting with the Pakistani prime minister.
Foreign Minister Zafrullah Khan has told
American diplomats in Karachi that Pakistan
will soon make a new approach on the Kashmir
question to the UN Security Council. He said
Zafrullah added that Nehru's attitude leaves
Pakistan with no recourse except the United Nations, and that there was
no object now in Pakistan's delaying its action until after 30 April, the
deadline for agreement on a Kashmir plebiscite administrator.
Comment: Pakistan has regarded recourse
to the Security Council as inevitable since the UN Kashmir Committee
talks broke down last December. Zafrullah may still hope that a threat
to take the dispute to the UN will influence Nehru to agree to further
talks, but the Indian position is not likely to change.
Nehru has said that American military aid to
Pakistan changes the complexion of the Kashmir problem. India probably
will attempt to inject this subject into a Security Council discussion on
Kashmir.
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EASTERN EUROPE
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9. Czechs may be producing improved MIG fighter:
At least a portion of Czechoslovakia's
MIG-15 production facilities was s
to an improved model in mid-1953
,
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The Vodochody plant near Prague has been assembling this type
since August 1953.
Comment: Czech production of an improved
MIG model would substantially increase Satellite fighter capabilities.
Such a model would logically correspond to
the MIG-15-bis, which went into production in the USSR in 1950 and has
an engine which develops a thrust 1,000 pounds greater than that in the
MIG-15.
The time of the reported model change follows
closely the known shift of MIG final assembly from the Letnany to the new
Vodochody plant. Czech MIG production, estimated at about 25 per month
in the summer of 1953, had apparently doubled by January 1954.
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11. Communist sympathizer reported in line for top Italian military post:
The American army attache in Rome reports
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that General Alessandro Trabucchi may soon
replace General, Marras as chief of staff for
defense. Marras is past retirement age.
According to the attache, Trabucchi has
made statements indicating hostility to the United States and Britain,
Carabinieri, recently referred to Trabucchi as "a man of Communist
tendencies if indeed not an outright Communist."
and has appeared ignorant of modern
concepts of military science. General Pieche, retired chief of the
Comment: Previous reports on Trabucchi
have also indicated that he has pro-Communist sentiments. He will
not reach retirement age for approximately three years.
LATIN AMERICA
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12. Guatemala may lead anticolonial attack at Caracas:
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Comment., The item on colonialism in the
Caracas agenda was cosponsored by Guatemala and Argentina. On 12
March the latter presented a resolution calling for the elimination of
colonies in the hemisphere and for the repudiation of force in the con-
tinuance of colonial occupation.
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The popular anticolonial issue may serve
to align Guatemala--isolated in the vote on the anti-Communist reso-
lution--with the majority of the Latin American countries. The United
States has maintained that no specific cases should be discussed under
the colonialism item.
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