HAVANA, July 29, 2007 (AFP) - A leading dissident Sunday called on the Cuban government to publicly concede it has failed, one year after ailing President Fidel Castro ceded power to his brother Raul.

Human rights campaigner Martha Beatriz Roque said in a statement the government needed to be brave enough 'to tell the country that the (communist) 'system' is a failure.'

Roque, who leads the illegal Assembly to Promote Civil Society, blamed the Cuban government for the effects of the decades-old US embargo on the impoverished island state.

HAVANA, July 28, 2007 (AFP) - One year after veteran revolutionary leader Fidel Castro handed power to his younger brother Raul, Cuban dissidents say it's just more of the same in the communist-run Caribbean island.

'Under these totalitarian regimes, changes don't come because of the natural death or illness of a leader,' says anti-Castro activist Vladimiro Roca.

CARACAS, July 28, 2007 (AFP) - Since Fidel Castro gave up power one year ago, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has often been by his ailing Cuban mentor's bedside vowing to keep alive the legacy of a communist leader he compares to Christ.

Chavez has never hidden his admiration for the 80-year-old Castro, sharing the veteran Cuban strongman's distaste for US 'imperialism' while touting his own vision for '21st century socialism.'

HAVANA, July 29, 2007 (AFP) - In the year since he was named interim president, Raul Castro, 76, has not instituted any significant changes in Cuba, but his pragmatic style has raised expectations some economic reforms may be in the works.

Fidel Castro's younger brother has kept the Americas' only one-party communist system intact, crushing hopes among Cuban exiles in Miami and elsewhere that the government would collapse without the elder sibling at the helm.

HAVANA, Cuba, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Fidel Castro's first no-show in 48 years in Cuba's national holiday fanned doubts he will ever retake the helm from his brother Raul Castro, who has renewed his offer of talks with the United States.

'It's over for Fidel Castro as president and commander in chief,' said the 'Iron Lady' of dissidents Martha Beatriz Roque, who was jailed in 2003 along with 75 other prominent dissidents, but freed a year later for health reasons.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Cuba offered Thursday to hold talks with the United States, as the communist country marked its first national holiday without ailing leader Fidel Castro -- but the overture was swiftly rebuffed by Washington.

Interim President Raul Castro led Cuba`s national day festivities as his convalescing brother, last seen in public exactly a year ago, missed the event for the first time.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Cuba on Thursday offered to hold talks with the United States -- an overture quickly rejected by Washington -- as the communist country marked its first national holiday without ailing leader Fidel Castro.

Interim President Raul Castro led Cuba`s national day festivities as his convalescing brother, who was last seen in public a year ago, missed the event for the first time -- a sign of communist island`s transition taking root.

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - The United States on Thursday quickly rejected the idea of dialogue with Cuba's communist government, floated by its interim leader Raul Castro.

'The only real dialogue he needs is with the Cuban people,' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, after Raul Castro called for talkes to end more than a half century of enmity between the neighboring nations.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Cuba`s interim leader Raul Castro Thursday reached out to whomever is elected US president in 2008, calling for a dialogue to end more than a half century of enmity.

'If the new US administration once and for all can set aside its overbearing nature and talk in a civilized fashion, that will be most welcome,' Raul Castro, 76, told thousands of Cubans at a rally marking Cuba`s national day, missed for the first time by his convalescing brother Fidel Castro, 80.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Interim President Raul Castro led Cuba`s national day festivities Thursday amid uncertainty over the future of his convalescing brother Fidel, last seen in public at last year`s event.

In a sign that Fidel Castro, 80, was not ready to make his first public appearance since undergoing surgery a year ago, Cuban state media had announced Wednesday that Raul Castro, 76, would deliver the keynote address at the National Rebellion Day.

HAVANA, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - Interim President Raul Castro will lead Cuba`s national day festivities Thursday amid uncertainty over the future of his convalescing brother Fidel, who was last seen in public at last year`s event.

In a sign that Fidel Castro, 80, was not ready to make his first public appearance since undergoing surgery last year, Cuban state media said Wednesday Raul would deliver the keynote address at the National Rebellion Day.

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - One year after Fidel Castro underwent surgery and handed power to his younger brother Raul, US policies toward Cuba, steeped in 50 years of Cold War confrontation, remain essentially unchanged.

Analysts say the smooth transition -- officially temporary -- from one Castro to another came as a surprise for Washington, which had banked on a collapse of the only communist regime in the Americas.

That left the US administration without a strategy adapted to the present situation, said Philip Peters of the Lexington Institute.

HAVANA, July 25, 2007 (AFP) - Cuban state media took the unusual step Wednesday of announcing publicly that acting president Raul Castro -- not the communist nation`s convalescing leader Fidel Castro -- would make the keynote address at Cuba`s national day Thursday.

The announcement suggests it is unlikely that Fidel Castro, 81, will appear at the July 26 events in the city of Camaguey, observers said.

HAVANA, July 23, 2007 (AFP) - One year after he underwent surgery, Fidel Castro is still recovering and Cubans are still wondering whether the veteran revolutionary will resume the leadership he handed over to his brother Raul.

Friends of the communist leader say his recovery is going very well, but the secrecy surrounding his condition has stirred wild speculation about his health and his political future.