Documents / FOIA release
The CIA's Directorate of Intelligence issued this Weekly Summary, No. 0369/70, on 8 May 1970. It covers events through noon on 7 May. The Far East section deals with the allied operations into Cambodia, Hanoi's cautious response and the government in exile Sihanouk formed in Peking. Other items cover Soviet military aid, the Sino-Soviet talks, Jordan, Dahomey, Guatemala and Brazil, and a special report looks at Cuban support for subversion in Latin America. Many pages are withheld, and the summary contains no UFO material.
“Indian Air Force”1 page
Approved for C03154550 CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT I A new civilian government of "national union" in Dahomey, com— plete with a three—headed presi- dency, was sworn in this week, but it holds little prospect for bringing long—term stability to this coup~ridden former French colony in West Africa. The joint presidency is manned by the country's three ci- vilian political kingpins and chief regional spokesmen——Hubert Maga, Justin Ahomadegbe, and Sourou—Migan Apithy. They suc— ceed an inept and divisive mili- tary triumvirate that has kept Dahomey in a state of near chaos for the past five months. Maga, a northern leader who was the country's first president, is "first among equals" and premier; that role is supposed to rotate among the three presidents every two years. Cabinet ministries have been apportioned among sup- porters of the three presidents and of former president Zinsou. Former President Soglo toasts three other former presidents—Apithy, Maga, Ah0madegbe— who make up new “national union” government. NSTALLED IN DAHOMEY The final agreement on the new government came only after the army had applied heavy pres- sure on civilian politicians, including a threat that they might find themselves out of the pic- ture completely if they did not arrange a compromise. Th4’;/4¥44*4KQbX1) (bX3) Given the depth of the mutual hostility among the three presi- dents as well as their conflicting political ambitions, it is highly unlikely that the compromise will last for long. Moreover, even if the government survives its own built—in divisions, there are a number of unresolved conflicts within the military, and between the military and civilian leaders, which could explode at any moment. At the center of the most pressing of these disputes is the question of the future status of the army chief of staff, Lt. Colonel Kouandete. (bX1) (bX3) Meanwhile, the incoming gov- ernment has already been threatened with a general strike by workers and students demanding immediate and drastic tax reductions. Their challenge could lead to the early crumbling of the fragile new \ <s Page 25 WEEKLY SUMMARY 8 May 70 Approved for Release: 2023/03/28 C03154550
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 78 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.