Page last updated at 13:10 GMT, Monday, 5 July 2010 14:10 UK
Guillermo Farinas at home in Santa Clara in March 2010 Mr Farinas has
been refusing food since February and is now very ill
Spain's foreign minister plans to increase pressure on Cuba to release
political prisoners, during a visit starting shortly.
Miguel Angel Moratinos said he was going to Havana to support
negotiations between the Catholic Church and Cuba's communist authorities.
Spanish diplomats told the BBC there were indications the talks could
lead to a substantial release of prisoners.
Cuba is holding about 200 dissidents in prison, some of them on hunger
strike.
Mr Moratinos will discuss human rights with his Cuban counterpart Bruno
Rodriguez and the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega.
"I'm going to work to support the efforts and obtain results, and that
is therefore my goal," Mr Moratinos said.
Cuban denial
Mr Moratinos does not plan to meet Guillermo Farinas, 48, a prisoner who
has been refusing food since February. Doctors treating him say his life
is in danger.
He is being fed intravenously in hospital, but doctors say he has
developed a blood clot that could kill him.
The news was reported in Cuban state media, which usually ignore
dissident protests.
Mr Farinas is a psychologist who works as a freelance journalist
reporting on Cuba in defiance of state media controls.
In February another dissident, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died while on
hunger strike in jail.
Cuba denies there are political prisoners on the island, saying jailed
dissidents are common criminals or "mercenaries" working for the US.
Mr Moratinos said Spanish diplomats had visited Mr Farinas on several
occasions and "we've been concerned about his state of health".
"We want him to end the hunger strike because I believe that the whole
international community already knows his goal of presenting and
representing the situation in Cuba," he said.
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