WHY IS CASTRO SUDDENLY SO NERVOUS?

HAVANA – U.S. officials and Cuban dissidents reacted with anger as Fidel Castro (news – web sites)’s government arrested more activists and vowed to put them on trial in the country’s harshest crackdown on dissent in years.

As tensions with the United States increased, a Cuban airliner carrying 29 passengers was hijacked Wednesday night and landed under U.S. military escort in Key West, Fla. The six hijackers were detained and faced federal air piracy charges.

At least 46 dissidents have been detained in a two-day operation by Cuban state security agents, human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said. He said arrests of anti-government activists continued Wednesday night.

Sanchez called it “the most intense repression in recent years.”

The detentions come amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Washington and Havana, which has repeatedly criticized the Bush administration for encouraging dissent on the Caribbean island.

I wonder if any Hollywood stars will protest this “crushing of dissent” at the Oscars Monday night?