Amanda Holpuch The Guardian, Thursday 6 December 2012 22.20 GMT
Retired software mogul who is wanted as 'person of interest' in Belize murder case plans to appeal against denial of asylum
John McAfee leaves the supreme court in Guatemala City. Photograph: Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images
The former software mogul John McAfee was taken to hospital in Guatemala on Thursday, after complaining of chest pains while being detained by local authorities. McAfee fled from Belize to Guatemala after the murder of one of his neighbours, Gregory Faull. McAfee is a person of interest in the case and is wanted by Belize police for questioning.
He initially refused to go to a hospital, saying he had relied on Chinese herbal medicine after suffering a heart attack in 1993.
"Last night I had a little bit of pain, but I am fine this morning," McAfee told the Associated Press on Thursday. "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 government doctor said McAfee's heart rhythm and blood pressure were normal and that he had not suffered a heart attack during the night.
McAfee was detained by Guatemalan authorities on Wednesday, after illegally crossing into the country. Belize police expected McAfee to return after he was denied asylum on Thursday, but his lawyer said he would appeal, which could give him more than 48 hours more in Guatemala.
McAfee is being represented by Telésforo Guerra, a former Guatemala attorney general who is the uncle of McAfee's 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, Samantha Venegas.
Belize has not issued a warrant for McAfee's arrest but McAfee has said that he has been harassed by the Belize government and that he has documentation that proves it is corrupt.
"Seven months ago the Belizean government sent 42 armed soldiers into my property," McAfee said. "They killed one of my dogs, they broke into all of my houses, they stole, they arrested me and kept me handcuffed in the sun for 14 hours. I was taken to jail and it was only the intervention of the US embassy that got me out of jail."
McAfee is the founder of the anti-virus software company that bears his name. He sold the company in 1994 and invested in several other technology ventures before retiring to Belize in 2008.
His whereabouts in Guatemala were uncovered when data regarding his location was embedded in an iPhone photo accompanying an article about him in Vice magazine entitled: "We are with John McAfee right now, suckers." On Tuesday, he confirmed he was in Guatemala with his girlfriend.
McAfee and cartoonist Chad Essley have been keeping the public updated on McAfee's life on the run through a blog, whoismcafee.com.
Earlier on Thursday, Essley posted a request from McAfee that asked readers to tweet, email or call 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".
McAfee has been blogging from jail, after someone lent him a computer. He has said that he has been treated kindly by Guatemalan police and that they had provided some "excellent" coffee.
"So far, my experience on the inside of this establishment has worn away a bit of my natural cynicism and added a measure of hope for humanity," McAfee wrote.
John McAfee taken to Guatemala hospital after suffering chest pains | World news | The Guardian
