THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05974347
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: April 27, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2019
• Publication Date: March 26, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
Top Secret 26 March 1968
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TOP SECRET
DAILY BRIEF
26 MARCH 1968
1. Vietnam
2. Panama
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While military activity in South
Vietnam remains at a low level, we con-
tinue to get more signs of heavy enemy
infiltration into South Vietnam. Truck
traffic through the Mu Gia Pass is at
the highest level since just before the
Tet offensive. Some of the trucks carry
troops--a highly unusual procedure which
suggests that the movement has a good
deal of urgency behind it. Some Commu-
nist messages convey the same sense of
urgency.
Max Delvalle, the Arias supporter
whom the Assembly elected to the presi-
dency yesterday to replace Robles, has
called the Assembly into special session
this afternoon to make changes in the
electoral code.
This throws down the gauntlet to
the National Guard, which refuses to
recognize the impeachment of Robles and
says it will not let the session meet.
The confrontation could lead to violence,
although Arias and his supporters seem
to lack the resources in either manpower
or equipment for an effective challenge
to the Guard.
The general strike proclaimed yes-
terday by the Arias forces shows no sign
of getting off the ground.
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3. Laos
4. Cambodia
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The United States Intelligence
Board has approved a Special National
Intelligence Estimate on Communist in-
tentions in Laos over the next two to
three months. The estimate notes that
the Communists could in fairly short
order reduce the area controlled by
Vientiane to a few enclaves.
It points out that the Communists
might press ahead if, for instance,
they saw an advantage in creating a
"second front" in Laos to spread US re-
sources. They might also do so if they
thought it advisable to strengthen the
Communist hand in any negotiations by
taking as much territory as possible in
Laos.
But, on balance, the estimate con-
cludes that the Communists will prob-
ably content themselves with the capture
of a few more positions and then reduce
their pressure during the rainy season
which begins in May.
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5. Communist China
6. Saudi Arabia
7. Soviet Union -
Cuba
Growing political irritations be-
tween Moscow and Havana seem to have
had little effect on their economic re-
lations. The trade protocol for this
year, announced last week after six
months of negotiations, calls for a ten
percent boost in trade. Also, accord-
ing to press reports, Moscow is shell-
ing out more credits. The new credits
would presumably be to refinance pre-
vious ones and to cover Cuba's balance
of payments deficits.
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�To
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
26 March 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
--The supply of food and other goods in the capi-
tal appeared to be better this year than last, partly
because of a "good" harvest, but also because of
large food deliveries from China. (Our information
suggests the harvest was mediocre and that food ship-
ments from China, as well as from the USSR, made the
situation tolerable.)
--Bomb damage in Hanoi's residential areas was
more noticeable than a year ago. antiper-
sonnel bombs were especially feared and even foreign-
ers wear steel helmets when in the streets. Loss of
life because of the bombings, however, was not espe-
cially high because of strict civil defense regulations.
--The number of trucks seen in Hanoi seemed to
have grown markedly.
Paris Rally in Support of Hanoi: The embassy in
Paris reports that the meeting of French intellectuals
in support of Hanoi was a relatively quiet affair re-
ceiving only light press coverage. About 5,000 people
reportedly attended, an appeal was signed, and plans
for future publicity programs were discussed.
Organizers of the rally, as well as the Communist
paper L'Humanite, tended to downplay the official sta-
tus of the two Vietnamese Communist delegations. Their
individual credentials as prominent "Vietnamese intel-
lectuals" were featured instead.
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Communist Road/CoMmunications Construction
9 25 50
Miles
Dong Hol
New Road
: DEMILITARIZED ZONE
90050 3-68 CIA
25 MARCH
Exiting 'kind Fine
Communications construction
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New Communist Road Construction: The Communists
are constructing a new high-quality road which will
considerably shorten supply routes from North Vietnam
to the western DMZ area.
Aerial photography of 8 March shows the rapid
construction of a new road--about 16 miles in two
months through most difficult terrain--from Route 101
near Dong Hoi, North Vietnam, southward within a few
miles of the western end of the Demilitarized Zone.
The new road probably will be extended to connect
with border routes in Laos. Once the connection is
made, the Communists will be able to move supplies
more directly from North Vietnam to the Khe Sanh and
A Shau Valley areas, by-passing the longer existing
logistics routes--Mu Gia Pass and Route 912.
The 8 March photography also showed a trace for
a telecommunications line generally paralleling the
new road. The line is apparently intended to connect
an existing land line at Dong Hoi with lines under
construction within the Laos panhandle.
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II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Hanoi Reports Grand Central Station Demonstration:
Hanoi's international service on Monday reported the
hippie "be-in" and war protest last Saturday at New
York's Grand Central Station. The hippie aspects of
the demonstration were suppressed, however, and the
demonstrators were referred to merely as "American
youths."
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