[Cincinatus' Wife]

Venezuelans Protest Cuba Crackdown, Meddling - Show solidarity with repressed Cuban people *** "We don't want Venezuela to be turned into another Cuba and that is what we are heading for. We have to show solidarity with the repressed Cuban people," said Marielena Adrianza, a consulting firm employee joining the opposition protest. Opponents of Chavez, a left-wing former paratrooper elected in 1998 on a populist platform, brand him a fledgling dictator and fear he will drive Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism. He scoffs at their claims.

Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage riled foes of Chavez over the weekend when he criticized Venezuelan opposition leaders during a conference in Caracas. Friday's small demonstration came a day after Venezuela voted against a United Nations resolution urging Cuba to accept a visit by a human rights commission following the arrest of scores of Cuban dissidents. ***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Cuba: Executions meant to deter migration - Why can't Cubans travel? *** HAVANA -The Cuban government Friday justified the recent executions of three men who hijacked a ferry as an effort to avert a ''migration crisis'' that, according to the foreign minister, could result in a ''war'' with the United States. Speaking to reporters, Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque said that ''we were obliged by the circumstances under which the country is living, and with pain'' to carry out the executions, which he labeled a ``last resort.'' The executions, he said, were intended to dissuade other would-be hijackers and nip in the bud an ensuing exodus across the Straits of Florida that would create a confrontation with the U.S. government.

''This is an exceptional step, a painful measure taken as a last resort and founded on the hope of avoiding great loss of life and costs for both countries,'' Pérez Roque said, ``impeding a migratory crisis that would end in a war between both countries.''*** The executions followed a wave of detentions and convictions of about 75 Cuban dissidents on charges of subversion. Pérez Roque Friday warned those dissidents who have not been arrested to be careful because there would be no ''impunity'' for anyone who commits treason.

His comments marked the first effort by the government of Fidel Castro to address the executions, which, together with the wave of repression, have drawn an extraordinary round of condemnation from a number of nations and human rights organizations. Pérez Roque also boasted that the U.N. Human Rights Commission's failure to condemn Cuba for its recent crackdown affirmed the island leadership's belief in the right to defend itself from attempts to subvert its system.***