Rumours are swirling Fidel Castro has suffered a stroke and is close to death.
Venezuelan Dr Jose Marquina told El Nuevo Herald the 86-year-old had suffered a cerebral haemorrhage.
Dr Marquina said: “He suffered an embolic stroke and recognises absolutely no one.”
Fidel Castro pictured in February 2012
The Cuban government has made no official statement on Castro's health - which is a matter of national security - and the ageing revolutionary's family have denied reports of his poor health.
Dr Marquina's comments are uncorroborated and AP points out he is the same physician who made predictions in April that cancer-stricken Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was "in his last days" and would be dead by November.
Chavez says he has beaten the illness and continues to appear in public.
Castro was last seen in public in March – during a visit from Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba.