Documents / FOIA release

Weekly Summary

Central Intelligence Agency · 1970-05-08 · 78 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

  • p. 27 …Egyptian President l\lasir’s May Day speech included an appeal to the US to force…
Approved for Release: 2023/03/28 C03154550
‘STE-GIILEL
TRINIDAD FACES A NEW POLITICAL CLIMATE
Confidence in the government
has been severely shaken by the
recent disorders,and cabinet
changes will probably soon take
place. The government also ap-
pears likely to present new legis
lation in an attempt to dramatize
its awareness of the need for
social and economic change.
The arrest last weekend of
the ringleaders of the army mu-
tiny, which erupted on 21 April,
finally ended the drawn—out re-
volt. The rebellion, coming on
the heels of weeks of unrest fo-
mented by black power dissidents,
had threatened to topple the ad-
ministration of Prime Minister
Williams. Since the arrests,
government spokesmen have re-
fused to divulge any of the de-
tails surrounding the mutiny,
but it appeared to stem primarily
from complaints about internal
conditions in the regiment.
Some of the officers, who are
scheduled to stand trial for
treason later this month, may
also have been sympathetic to
the black power cause.
Prime Minister Williams, who
has held power since 1956, has
probably now incurred political
liabilities that could shake his
party's long—time dominance.
Williams‘ personal political
stock, upon which the Peoples‘
National Movement (PNM) has been
highly dependent, has undoubtedly
dropped as a result of his inabil
ity to head off the black power
movement or to take early deci-
sive action against the muti-
neers. The resignation of one
of his chief ministers, a young
cabinet official regarded as a
spokesman for the black nation-
alist wing of the PNM, has also
tarnished the party's image.
Williams has tried to re-
coup some of his lost political
ground by promising a "drastic
reconstruction of government" and
vowing "to support unequivocally"
the claims of blacks to social
justice and economic dignity. De-
spite the rhetoric, Williams‘ new
programs are thus far vague. Ear-
lier in the year, he tried to
counter the demands of black
power advocates by prescribing
an additional 5 percent tax on
corporations and individuals in
high tax brackets and by imme-
diately creating 1,600 new jobs.
Even these specific efforts had
little impact, in part because un-
employment, estimated at l5 per-
cent of the work force, appears
to affect mainly secondary school
dropouts who are unwilling to ac-
cept the common laboring jobs of-
fered.
Williams will probably call
elections late this year or early
in l97l; the current parliamentary
term expires next year. The prime
ministers‘ difficulties may be
complicated by a political opposi-
tion that recently has shown new
signs of life. Although his foes
are still splintered, Williams
will have to present some practi-
cal programs in coming months if
he is to stave off a serious ero-
sion of his party's strength. (b \
7§E€flkEqL_
Page 31 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.