US millionaire McAfee plans presidential run from Cuba

HAVANA: After making a fortune with his early antivirus software, then being caught up in murder and drugs cases in Belize, US millionaire John McAfee has now added a new chapter to his tumultuous life story: from a yacht in Havana harbor, he says he is running for the US presidency.

This will not, he deadpans, be “an ordinary campaign.” “I am wanted as a criminal by the government for which I am running for president,” McAfee tells AFP as he sits surrounded on his white yacht by an entourage of seven campaign aides and two enormous dogs. He wears shorts, a tropical-themed shirt and wraparound sunglasses, and sports a graying goatee.

McAfee´s immediate goal is to win the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, which advocates for free trade and a sharply reduced federal government.

He tried but failed in 2016, edged out for that party´s nomination by Gary Johnson, who went on to win just over three percent of the vote in the general election.

But McAfee has an unusual confession for a presidential candidate: “I don´t want to be president, I really don´t, nor could I be,” he says, puffing on a cigar. “Really, look at me,” says McAfee, whose deep tan and relaxed attitude hardly give him the look of a candidate. “I can´t be president.” He goes on, “However, I do have a large following, and I will influence this next election.”