HAVANA - Cuba's state-run media said Saturday that an opposition activist who has refused food and water for 129 days has actually gained weight due to intravenous feeding, but that he has suffered a blood clot that left him "in danger of potential death."
In an unusual step, the Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that Guillermo Farinas is conscious and stable but could slip into grave condition at any time.
It quoted Armando Caballero, head of intensive care at Arnaldo Milian Castro University Hospital in the central city of Santa Clara, where Farinas has been treated since March 11.
"We are pushing the limits (of Farinas' health), now more than ever," Caballero said.
Farinas has drawn international attention since he stopped eating and drinking on Feb. 24 to demand that authorities free dozens of political prisoners and to protest the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died after his own long hunger strike in prison - the first Cuban opposition figure to die after refusing food in nearly 40 years.
People are also reading…
Cuba's government says it holds no political prisoners, charging that dissidents are paid agents of Washington working to destabilize its government.
The Granma story, which detailed doctors' efforts to keep the hunger striker alive, filled two of the newspaper's eight pages. It follows Spanish media reports that self-described "dissident" doctors close to Farinas say he has taken a turn for the worse and could die at any time.
Cuba's official media usually ignore dissidents, often mentioning them only to denounce their perceived ties to the United States or otherwise criticize them.
Cuba is giving its side of the story two days before the arrival of Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is expected to discuss Cuba's human rights situation. Spain has offered Farinas a visa that would allow him exile in that country to recover his health, but he has vowed to remain in Cuba and continue his hunger strike.
Farinas, 48, is a psychologist who works as a freelance journalist, reporting on Cuba in defiance of state controls on all media.
He has been kept alive by nutrients administered through a tube. He first remained at home, but was taken to Caballero's hospital after his health deteriorated.
Caballero told Granma that doctors have battled several blood infections in Farinas and that last week he suffered a clot, as well as an additional infection.
There is danger that clot could interrupt blood flow to his heart and kill him, Caballero said.
"We have seen ... improvement, although we can't say that this rules out more serious complications."
