GUATEMALA CITY (AP) Software company founder John McAfee was denied political asylum in Guatemala on Thursday and police in Belize said they expected him to be flown back soon for questioning about the killing of a fellow American expatriate.
Guatemalan authorities said McAfee's request for asylum had been denied but did not explain why. Shortly after the decision was announced, McAfee issued a plea on his blog for the public to petition Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina to let him stay.
"Please email the President of Guatemala and beg him to allow the court system to proceed, to determine my status in Guatemala, and please support the political asylum that I am asking for," the post read.
McAfee's legal team said they would appeal the denial of asylum to the country's constitutional court, a process that could give McAfee at least another 48 hours in Guatemala. McAfee also began complaining of chest pain, prompting authorities to prepare to move him from the immigration center where he had been held overnight.
McAfee was sent to the center after his arrest for illegally entering the country ended a bizarre weekslong journey as a self-styled fugitive with an active blog and constant contact with the press.
McAfee told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview from inside his private room in the center Thursday morning that he had suffered chest pain in the night but had refused to travel to a hospital because he had been using Chinese herbal medicine since suffering a heart attack in 1993.
"Last night I had a little bit of pain, but I am fine this morning," he said. "I don't like western medicine ... if the people around me are kind and compassionate, that's all that matters in life. The people of Guatemala are very kind people, so I have no complaints."
A couple of hours later, the AP returned to McAfee's room and found him changed into a suit but lying on the floor as he was examined by a doctor, who said that McAfee's heart and blood pressure were normal, but nonetheless appeared to be getting ready to move him from the center to a hospital.
Belizean police spokesman Raphael Martinez said officials expected McAfee to be flown back to the capital. Police hope to question him about the fatal shooting of killing of Gregory Viant Faull, who was shot to death in early November on the Belize island where both men lived.
There is no warrant for McAfee's arrest, so it is possible that his self-initiated flight from Belizean authority could end up with him free to roam the Caribbean island where he lived for years, often clashing with neighbors and authorities over allegations he kept aggressive dogs, weapons and drug paraphernalia on his property.
McAfee was updating his blog Thursday after being given a computer by the warden at the migration center in Guatemala City, a three-story building with mesh-covered windows and barbed-wire on the roof.
He said U.S. Embassy officials had said they couldn't help him with a request to be returned to the United States instead of Belize. McAfee said he had formally requested asylum in Guatemala because he fears for his safety because he has sensitive information about official corruption and refused to donate to local politicians.
Since refusing to turn himself in to authorities in Belize, the 67-year-old had been in hiding, blogging his movements and calling reporters, until reappearing in Guatemala to claim asylum. He has not said how he crossed the border into Guatemala.
Guerra warned Wednesday night that McAfee's life would be in danger if he is returned to Belize.
"He will be in danger if he is returned to Belize, where he has denounced authorities," Guerra said. "From the moment he asked for asylum he has to have the protection of the Guatemalan government."
Police in Belize deny they are persecuting McAfee and say there is no warrant for his arrest. The country's prime minister has even questioned McAfee's mental state.
McAfee went on the run last month after officials tried to question him about the killing of Faull, who was shot to death in early November on the Belize island where both men lived.
McAfee acknowledges that his dogs were bothersome and that Faull had complained about them, but denies killing Faull.
Faull's home was a couple of houses down from McAfee's compound.
The Faull family has said through a representative that the murder of their loved one on Ambergris Caye has gotten lost in the media frenzy provoked by McAfee's manipulation of the media through phone calls, emails and blog posts detailing his life on the lam.
McAfee grabbed global attention with regular phone calls with reporters and blog updates. He claimed to be wearing disguises and watching as police raided his house. It was unclear, however, how much of what McAfee a confessed practical joker said and wrote was true.
He had earlier said he didn't plan to leave Belize but ultimately did because he thought the young woman who has accompanied him since he went into hiding was in danger.
McAfee, the creator of the McAfee antivirus program, has led an eccentric life since he sold his stake in the anti-virus software company that is named after him in the early 1990s and moved to Belize about three years ago to lower his taxes.
He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the U.S. financial crisis. However, a story on the Gizmodo website quoted him as calling that claim "not very accurate at all." He has dabbled in yoga, ultra-light aircraft and producing herbal medications.
___
Patrick E. Jones in Belize City and Michael Weissenstein in Mexico City contributed.
