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The Cuba Notebook - Distraught mom grieves for executed son Garcia is at a loss to explain why her son attempted such a brazen and dangerous exit. He never tried to leave the island as a rafter, she said, and he was too young to have applied for the last visa lottery issued by the U.S. Interests Section in 1998. She doesn't know what sparked his decision to board that ferry, precisely on her 45th birthday, and offers her only answer as she looks around her barren room. "It was my need that made him do it," said Garcia, who ekes out a living running a fruit and vegetable stand in one of Havana's neighborhood markets. "He would say, `I can't stand to see you get up at 3 a.m. with that cart on the street.' "

As she talks into the early evening, the sunlight dims and the room goes dark. She and two daughters rely on the light from the kitchen since the bulb that hangs over the living room is burnt out and there is no money to buy another. Today Garcia is pulling her life together after her son's execution. She spends most of her days in her small apartment, nursing her chronic migraines on the cot she and her family pulled from a trash bin -- the only furniture in the room save three chairs.

She says she worries about being watched by Cuba's security, and that many of her neighbors have stopped talking to her. Now she plans to apply for an exit visa to the leave the island, saying the "rage in my heart" over her son's execution is so great she can barely breathe some days. Last week, she contacted one of Cuba's leading opposition activists, Elizardo Sanchez, and Cuba's Cardinal Jaime Ortega for help to begin the process.***

Castro speech canceled in Argentina***BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Thousands of Argentine supporters of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro broke through security Monday night, creating pandemonium and forcing authorities to cancel Castro's first speech in Argentina. The University of Buenos Aires Law School was slated to host Castro's speech in the homeland of fellow revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevarra. Authorities late Monday were trying to arrange for Castro to address the country via a televised broadcast. Supporters of Castro overran security to overflow an auditorium beyond double its 3,200-seat capacity. People fainted and were trampled in the chaotic confusion. There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries, but authorities decided to evacuate the hall and cancel the speech for security reasons.***

Address moved outdoors Thousands of Argentines crowd Buenos Aires boulevard to hear Cuba's Fidel Castro speak***BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - To the cheers of thousands of screaming Argentines, Cuban leader Fidel Castro criticized U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and Latin America in a speech Monday. Castro, who attended Sunday's inauguration of President Nestor Kirchner, was on his first trip to this economically troubled South American country since 1995. Dressed in a dark blue suit and tie, Castro drew shouts of "Ole! Ole! Ole!" and "Fidel! Fidel!" as he spoke for more than two and a half hours outdoors on a crisp winter night.

Castro began by paying homage to Argentina-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who served as one of his top advisers during the 1959 revolution. "He was a wonderful human being, extremely intelligent and cultured, and who had an enormous sense of solidarity," he said. Castro then compared his country's achievements in health care and education to levels attained by the United States in the same field. But his criticism of the U.S-led war in Iraq drew the loudest applause. "We send our doctors, not bombs, to the farthest corners of the world to help save lives, not kill them," he said to a roar of cheers. ***

"The people of Buenos Aires are sending a message to those in the world who want to ride roughshod over our cities and our countries in Latin America," he added in a thinly veiled reference to the United States. The speech was organized by a student group and originally planned to be held in an auditorium at the University of Buenos Aires Law School, but was moved outdoors after thousands swarmed the building to hear Castro speak.***

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And Saddam and Castro imprison, torture and execute at home. Well, Saddam used to.