World Notes: Cuba

As the only communist dictator still in power outside Asia, Fidel Castro is showing signs of desperation. Last week, ignoring all pleas for mercy from around the globe, he gave the go-ahead to the execution of a Cuban exile and stepped up his campaign against disaffected citizens.

Eduardo Diaz Betancourt, 38, who lived in Miami, was shot to death by a firing squad. He and two other Cuban-born exiles had been captured with arms and explosives after their inflatable boat landed on the island at the end of December. His companions were also condemned to death for terrorism, but their sentences were commuted to 30 years in prison.

Castro's Council of State made it clear that it hoped to scare off opponents, foreign and domestic. At least 60 human-rights activists have been arrested on the island in the six months since the August coup precipitated the breakup of the Soviet Union, Cuba's principal backer. "The idea," said the council in a statement, "is to stop such loathsome actions from being repeated."