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TITLE:
THE PRESIDENT'S INTELLIGENCE CHECKLIST
DATE:
PAGES:
11/23/1963
15
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(Security Classification)
THE PRESIDENT'S
INTELLIGENCE CHECKLIST
ISSUED BY THE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
-1
23 NOVEMBER 1963
TOP SECRET
i
1. South Vietnam
a. Vietnamese Communist ef-
forts to discredit the new Saigon
regime stayed in high gear this
week.
b. The number of armed attacks
was off from the high of the previous
week but still some 50% above the
year's weekly average.
C. These attacks have been,
for the most part, small-scale efforts
directed against the government's
paramilitary forces in the villages.
They have been designed more for
their psychological impact than for
immediate military gain.
d. A high volume of messages
on Viet Cong military and political
communications nets indicates a prob-
able continuation of this effort.
e. The new government is re-
sponding by stepping up its own
military operations. It is also
setting about the hard job of re-
vamping the Diem government apparatus
and harnessing broader popular sup-
port for the war effort.
f. The generals have been
dealing fairly effectively with
For The President Only - Top Secret
(Cont'd)
72
70
12
10
Maracaibo
Cabimas
LAGO DE
MARACAIBO San Lorenzo
Trujille
ntrados
CURACAO
El Cardón
(Neth.) BONAIRE
Coro
68
66
CARACAS
Barquisimeto
San Carlos
de los Morros
Guanare.
El Calvario
Barinas
Sen Fernando
de Apure
seques
Puerto Ayacucho
COLOMBIA
VENEZUELA
Selected railroad
50
100
200 Miles
50
100
200 Kilometers
BRAZIL
72
64
CARIBBEAN SEA
62
60
GRENADA
(U.K.)
TOBAGO
La Asunción
Cardpano
Maturin
Puerto
Ordáz
Tucupite
TRINIDAD
BRITISH
GUIANA
BRAZIL
6307 30
70
68
66
64
62
60
12
10
L L
2.
Venezuela
their new responsibilities. There
are, however, a few signs of dissen-
sion within this group and between
it and civilian politicians.
g. One of the more ambitious
and troublesome figures is the able
but opportunistic General Ton That
Dinh, the new Minister of Security.
He has been travelling about the
country spreading the idea that the
coup was largely his doing and seems
bent on developing his own independ-
ent base of power. He is a man to
watch.
h. The new regime has also
embarked on a purge of high military
officers who sided with Diem during
the Buddhist crisis and failed to
get on the right side soon enough.
(INTERCEPTS)
a. The death toll from the
terrorist outburst in Caracas last
Tuesday and Wednesday now stands at
about 30.
b. This is the high water mark
thus far in the campaign of the
Castro-supported Communist extremists
to disrupt the national elections a
week from tomorrow.
For The President Only - Top Secret
(Cont'd)
:
C.
The Betancourt government
has struck back hard. Its new uni-
fied command over the security forces,
set up at US urging, passed this
initial test with flying colors.
d. At least 500 extremists
were arrested and the round-up is
still going on. Their removal will
hamper the Communist drive against
elections in major cities like Caracas.
e.
We now expect the elections
to be held on schedule, a consider-
able achievement under the circum-
stances. The elections will be fol-
lowed, however, by a Communist ef-
fort to prevent the March inaugura-
tion of the victor.
f. The rub here is that none
of the presidential candidates com-
mands President Betancourt's con-
siderable assets for dealing success-
fully with the harsh realities of
Venezuelan politics. The constitu-
tion prevents Betancourt from suc-
ceeding himself.
g. In the background, as
always, looms the military, which
could intervene if the president-
elect shows signs of being soft on
communism.
For The President Only - Top Secret
CUBA
ISU
to-Air Missile (SAM) Sites
CHAVANA EAST
Mariel
Artemisa
Santiago de las Vegas
Remediose
SAN JULIAN
(Training site),
Isle of Pines
L.
New site
Unchanged site
Estimated range
3
Holguin
Santiago de Cuba.
IS Naval Base
34095
OCTOBER 1963
SECRET
L
L
ļ
3. USSR-Cuba
a.
In the past week we inter-
cepted Cuban military messages which
show that Cuban interpreters are now
posted at several surface-to-air mis-
sile (SAM) sites on the island.
b. We think this means that
on-site training of Cubans has begun
on schedule. Field training is to
last six months, after which the
SAM system may be turned over to
Castro.
Most
C. In the past month some
1,500 Soviets arrived in Cuba.
of these were probably SAM experts,
sent to monitor the training.
d. Prior to their coming, we
had detected no more than a few
hundred Soviet military personnel
entering Cuba since the October
crisis last year.
e. We estimate that at least
15,000, and probably closer to
18,000, have been withdrawn in the
intervening 13 months, leaving, very
roughly, 4,000 to 7,000. Those re-
maining are for the most part ad-
visors whose main functions are to
train and supervise Cubans in the
use of weapons turned over to them.
(Cont'd)
For The President Only - Top Secret
Bremen
FEDERAL
COMMUNICATION ROUTES BETWEEN
WEST GERMANY AND BERLIN
Kiel
Stralsund
Hamburg
Buechen
ر
Schwanheide
Lauenburg
Horst
Neuruppin
Prenzlau
SOVIET
Wittenberge
Hav
POLAND
Liebenwalde
Wriezen
Rathenow
Stendal
BERLINS
AST
BERLIN
Mittelland
Hannover
Vorsfeld
Qebisfelde
KLL
Marien
Helmstedt 4
ZONE
D
Magdeburg
-0
Jueterbog
Cottbus
Dessau
Elbe
Halle
Walkenried
Ellrich
Kassel
+
REPUBLIC
Herleshausen
Wartha
Hoerebach Gerstungen
GERMAN
UNCLASSIFIED
Probstzella
uchhoen
Ludwigstadt
✗Gutenfuerst-
Toeper Hdf
Boundaries are not necessarily thinco
32166
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Railroad
Canal
Autobahn
Road
.
Air Corridor
Control Points for Allied Traffic:
Soviet
A Allied
Interzonal Border
Δ East
Crossing Points:
Δ West
STA
IILES
KILOMETERS
100
L

4.
Berlin
f. All Soviet weapons intro-
duced into Cuba last year have been
withdrawn or turned over to the
Cubans. The only significant excep-
tion is the SAM system.
(Includes INTERCEPTS)
a. We have had an indication
that Soviet harassment of Allied ac-
cess routes to West Berlin will shift
this weekend to the air corridors.
b. The Soviet man at the Ber-
lin air traffic control center told.
the Allied representatives yesterday
that Soviet transports would be using
the air corridors for brief flights
during the next five weekends.
C. Moscow has tried on a num-
ber of past occasions to assert its
right to restrict Allied use of the
air corridors. In early 1962, the
Soviets attempted to reserve "blocks"
of air space for their own use. They
have since demanded that Western
flights stay between stipulated al-
titudes, that we file flight plans
in advance and provide prior notice
of border-crossing times.
(Cont'd)
For The President Only - Top Secret
5.
Iraq-Syria-
UAR
d. This sort of harassment
stopped in the spring of 1962 when
Soviet leaders became convinced
that the US was interested in a
serious discussion of a Berlin settle-
ment. Moscow may hope that the
threat of more of this sort of har-
assment will jog the US into talks
on Berlin.
a.
It now appears that Presi-
dent Arif's role in last Monday's
coup in Baghdad may have been vir-
tually that of a bystander.
b. According to our latest in-
formation, Arif was wakened early
that morning and given five minutes
to join up. Tahir Yahya, now prime
minister, was reportedly the orga-
nizer.
C. Whatever Arif's role may
have been, the coup was primarily
an effort by the Iraqi Army to cur-
tail the activities of the extreme
wing of the Baath Party. The Baath
is an Arab nationalist political or-
ganization, active throughout the
Arab world, which has been ruling
Iraq and Syria.
(Cont'd)
For The President Only - Top Secret
2.
The coup group has not
thrown all Baathists out of the
government; there are party members
in the new cabinet.
e.
Syrian Baathists have wel-
comed this retention of their Iraqi
brothers. Their attitude springs
from the recognition that the Baath
in Syria cannot stay afloat without
support from Iraq. Even so, we hear
talk of coup plotting in Damascus.
f. The reaction of Nasir's
Egypt, which passionately desires
to see the Baath go under, has been
exactly the opposite. Cairo has been
backing off its all-out support for
the coup ever since the new cabinet
was announced.
(Includes INTERCEPTS)
For The President Only - Top Secret
L
33741
SOVIET EXTENDED RANGE IMPACT AREAS
TYURATAM
ARCTIC OCEAN
BERING SEA
SEA OF
OKHOTSK
VLADIVOSTOK
SEA OF
JAPAN
KOREA
APPROX.
4900
NM
APPROX.
6500
NM
NORTHERN
IMPACT
AREA
Midway Islands
C
SOUTHERN
IMPACT
AREA
L
__
L
Johnston Island
• HAWAIIAN
C
CANADA
UNITED
STATES
TOP SECRET
DINAR
L
1.
i
NOTES
:
་
A. USSR New activity involving Soviet range instru-
mentation ships in the Pacific appears to be forth-
coming. Three instrumentation ships left Petropav-
lovsk 12 days ago and are apparently headed for the
more distant Pacific impact area, 6,500 miles from
Tyuratam. We are looking for extended range ICBM
tests but we do not exclude a space event. There
has so far been no announcement closing the area.
(INTERCEPTS)
B.
C.
D.
Congo-USSR Soviet embassy personnel have not yet
Teft Leopoldville, but their departure is expected
momentarily. They were ordered out of the country
after the Congolese turned up good documentary evi-
dence of their complicity in anti-government plots.
One of the items taken off a Soviet diplomat the
other day was a letter from an anti-Adoula leader
now in Brazzaville asking for funds and arms to over-
throw the Leopoldville government.
Britain The Labor Party scored again in the Dundee
West by-election Thursday, increasing its 1959
majority of 719 to a thumping 4,955. Heartened by
this, Labor is now pushing for general elections at
Prime Minister Home is not likely to accede.
once.
Ecuador The military junta which has run Ecuador
since July may be about to come unstuck. We have a
report that one of the less savory members of the
group, air force Colonel Freiles, will try to take
over full control this weekend. We are not sure
of the reliability of this report, but Freiles is
known to have been making motions in this direction.
RAVAZNE
(Cont'd)
For The President Only - Top Secret
SOVIET EARTH SATELLITE VEHICLES-COSMOS SERIES
1962-1963
SECRET
APPROXIMATE TIME LAUNCH PERIOD
OF LAUNCH (GMT)
SITE
(MINUTES)
1962
APOGEE
(N.M.)
PERIGEE
(N.M.)
ORBITAL
INCLINATION
Cosmos 1
(Sputnik 13)
Cosmos 2
(Sputnik 14)
12:00:00 (EST.)
16 Mar '62
Kapustin Yar
96.35
529
117
49°
1715:18
6 Apr '62
Kapustin Yar
102.5
842
115
49°
Cosmos 3
(Sputnik 15)
Cosmos 4
(Sputnik 16)
Cosmos 5
(Sputnik 17)
Cosmos 6
(Sputnik 18)
Cosmos 7
(Sputnik 19)
Cosmos 8
(Sputnik 22)
Cosmos 9
(Sputnik 26)
Cosmos 10
(Sputnik 27)
Cosmos 11
(Sputnik 28)
Cosmos 12
(Sputnik 32)
0918:30
28 July '62
0400:12
24 Apr '62
1002:56
26 Apr '62
Kapustin Yar
93.8
389
124
49°
STATUS
Decayed
25 May '62
Decayed
19-20 Aug '63
Decayed
17 Oct.'62
Recovered
Tyuratam
90.6
178
161
65°
29 Apr 62
0259:49
28 May '62
1600:00 (EST.)
30 June '62
Decayed
Kapustin Yar
102.75
865
110
49°
2 May '63
Kapustin Yar 90.6
194
148
49°
Tyuratam
90.1
199
113
65°
Decayed
8 Sept '62
Recovered
1 Aug '62
0500:00 (EST.)
18 Aug '62
Kapustin Yar 92.93
326
138
49°
Decayed
17 Aug '63
0940:00
27 Sept '62
Tyuratam
90.9
191
163
65°
0900:01 (EST.)
17 Oct '62
Tyuratam
90.2
205
113
65°
Recovered
1 Oct '62
Recovered
21 Oct '62
0655:00 (EST.)
Decayed
20 Oct '62
Kapustin Yar
96.1
497
132
49°
6 June '63
0924:40
22-Dec '62
Tyuratam
90.45
243
314'
65°
Recovered
30 Dec '62
W
1963
Cosmos 13.
(Sputnik 34)
Cosmos 14:
(Sputnik 36)
0830:00
21 Mar '63
1059:59
13. Apr 163
Tyuratam
89.77
182
111
64°.58"
Kapustin Yar
92.1
276
143
48° 57"
Cosmos 15
(Sputnik 37)
Cosmos 16
(Sputnik 38).
Cosmos 17
(Sputnik 39)
Cosmos 18
(Sputnik 40)
Cosmos 19
(Sputnik 43)
Cosmos-20
(Sputnik 44)
Failure
Cosmos 21
(Sputnik 46)
Cosmos 22
(Sputnik 47)
0829:58
22 Apr '63
0850:00 (EST.)
28 Apr.163.
0300:00 (EST.)
Tyuratam
89.77
200
93
65°
Recovered
29 Mar '63
Decayed
29 Aug '63
Recovered
27 April '63
Recovered
Tyuratam
90.4
218
112
65° 01"
⚫5 May '63
22 May '63
Kapustin Yar 94.8
425
140
49°
1034:07
24 May '63
0600:00 (EST.)
.Tyuratam
89.44
163
113
65° 01"
6 Aug 63
Kapustin Yar
92.2
280
146
0929:58
18 Oct '63
24 Oct '63
Tyuratam
89.55
168
111
65°
In orbit, silent
since 31 May 63
Recovered
2 June '63
In orbit,
transmitting
Recovered
26 Oct '63
Kapustin Yar
0623:39
Tyuratam
88.5
11 Nov '63
124
105
64° 50"
1034:25
16 Nov '63
Tyuratam
90.3
211
111
64°56"
Decayed
14 Nov '63
Recovered
22 Nov '63
E.
Thailand Prime Minister Sarit, who suffers from
an incurable liver disease, is failing, Doctors
attending him, including one of our own, give him
no more than six months more. Sarit has attempted
to arrange for an orderly succession when he does
go. The chances of this are not good; Thai poli-
ticians and military figures are already jostling
one another for position.
F. USSR Cosmos 22, launched a week ago, was recovered
yesterday. It is the eleventh unmanned satellite to
be recovered. All recoverable satellites have been
launched from Tyuratam, the main Soviet missile test
center, and recovered after three to ten days aloft.
A series of non-recoverable satellites has been
fired from Kapustin Yar.
(See Chart)
(INTERCEPTS)
For The President Only - Top Secret