Manuel Guerrero, a Mexican who was detained in Qatar, leaves the Arab country

Manuel Guerrero Aviña, the Mexican who was detained in Qatar for his sexual orientation, left the Arab country permanently today, August 12, 2024, to travel back to Mexico City, as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) headed by Alicia Bárcena, to whom he sent a letter in April in which he asked for a meeting to present the case and all the violations committed against him.

Guerrero Aviña, who works for Qatar Airways and has lived in Doha for the past seven years, took a flight at Hamad International Airport bound for London, where he will remain for a few days to complete a medical check-up, before continuing his journey to Mexico City.

The Mexican, who also has British nationality, thus left Qatar permanently after having completed the process established by the authorities of that country. Diplomatic personnel from the Mexican and British embassies accompanied him at the airport until he took his flight.

On Sunday, Manuel Guerrero Aviña completed the various procedures before the competent authorities in Qatar, where he was assisted by Mexican and British diplomatic personnel. He later met with the Mexican ambassador in that country, Guillermo Ordorica Robles, to whom he expressed his appreciation for the efforts made so that he could leave Doha.

In this regard, the SRE and the Mexican embassy in Qatar thanked the “valuable efforts” made by the United Kingdom government to guarantee Guerrero Aviña’s well-being during the development of the case.

Manuel Guerrero Aviña, a Mexican-British man who lived in Qatar, was arrested in that country on February 4 of this year accused of drug possession. However, his family and the human rights organization FairSquare denounced that his arrest was the result of his sexual orientation, since he belongs to the LGBTTT community.

The Mexican’s family claimed that the authorities planted a small amount of drugs at the time of his arrest when Manuel Guerrero Aviña had gone down to the entrance of his building to meet a man with whom he had arranged a date through an app, but they claimed that it was all a trap, as a false profile was used.

In mid-March, the Mexican was granted conditional release, and in April he wrote a letter in which he asked the Mexican authorities to intervene in his case and exposed some of the violations committed against him by Qatari authorities.

In the letter addressed to Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena, Manuel Guerrero accused that he had been denied access to his antiretroviral medication, since he is HIV positive, in addition to having been tortured and mistreated since his arrest by Qatari authorities. In response, he requested that they support the efforts for his repatriation in order to safeguard his life.

Source: excelsior