Dissident spokesman Lisset Zamora told AFP by telephone that Farinas went into a "hypoglycemic shock" and lost consciousness around 2:00 pm (1900) GMT, and was transported to a hospital near his home in the Cuban city of Santa Clara.

Farinas was in the intensive care unit of the Arnaldo Milian regional hospital, the spokesman added.

On Wednesday, his personal doctor said state physicians found him suffering from heart arrhythmia and severe dehydration but that Farinas refused hospitalization.

The journalist had lost 13 kilos (28 pounds) since going on the hunger strike to seek the release of 26 political prisoners who are seeking medical treatment.

He has vowed to press ahead "to the end" with his protest fast, which he began February 24, the day after political prisoner Orlando Zapata died on the 85th day of his own hunger strike.

Farinas is protesting the treatment of 26 political prisoners in Cuba needing medical attention.

Meanwhile, former political prisoner Felix Bonne, 70, who has been a member of the dissident "Democratic Cuban Alliance," said he would start his own hunger strike if Farinas dies.

The Cuban government earlier has rejected the demands for the release of the prisoners while calling the hunger strike "blackmail," according to the official Communist Party newspaper Gramna. Government officials argue that Farinas and other dissidents are being manipulated by opponents of Cuba including the US government.

On Wednesday, Farinas, appearing emaciated and weak, spoke to AFP and explained the reasons for continuing his hunger strike.

"We're asking (the government) for a gesture of goodwill toward 26 political prisoners who are dying in prisons," Farinas told AFP in an interview this week in his home in Santa Clara, around 280 kilometers (175 miles) east of Havana.

"We are not asking that Raul Castro hand over power," he added, in the small room of his modest home in the "La Pastora" neighborhood.

Emaciated and visibly weak, Farinas has been receiving journalists, diplomats and fellow opposition leaders, but has been unable to win over his own mother.

"I do not approve of this strike and I do not share his ideas," said Alicia Hernandez, 75, who has been unable to persuade his son to end the hunger strike.

"But we cannot abandon him."

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