Software pioneer on run from Belize authorities arrested in Guatemala
- Jan
- 17
McAfee had been on the run for almost a month since his neighbor was found dead at his home on November 11.
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, Thursday December 6, 2012 – Police here say they have arrested the American-born antivirus software pioneer, John McAfee, after he slipped over the border on Wednesday from his home in Belize.
McAfee, 67, was wanted in Belize for questioning by police in their investigation of the murder of his neighbor.
Guatemala’s Interior Minister, Mauricio Lopez Bonilla, told reporters here that McAfee was arrested on charges of entering Guatemala illegally.
He disclosed that McAfee was arrested at an upscale hotel here and taken to a detention center for migrants who are in the country illegally.
“We are awaiting instructions from the Foreign Ministry. It will be the foreign relations department that decides the process,” Bonilla said.
McAfee had been on the run for almost a month since his neighbor, Gregory Faull, on the Belizean island of Ambergris Caye was found dead at his home on November 11.
Belize police said McAfee as a “person of interest” in their investigation.
McAfee, who was accompanied by his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, Samantha Venagas, and his Guatemalan lawyer, Telésforo Guerra, said that he would seek political asylum in Guatemala.
Guerra, a former Guatemalan attorney general, said his client was being persecuted because he refused to pay Belizean authorities off any longer.
“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.”
Earlier, McAfee said he did not plan to leave Belize but changed his mind because his girlfriend’s life was in danger.
He claimed that he will be killed if he turns himself in to Belizean authorities.
“Belize does not have a good track record of providing safety when they ask to question you,” charged the creator of the McAfee antivirus program.
In 1994, McAfee sold his interest in the company that still bears his name. He moved to Belize three years ago. (CMC) Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)
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