In Memoriam Leo Varela

Manuel Garrido
July, 2018

Leo Varela left us at the end of June of this year. I want to clarify first of all that his real name was Javier Maneiro. Leo Varela was the pseudonym he adopted after joining the AIDS dissident movement, required by the need to protect his anonymity and that of his wife (both worked in a hospital).

Leo Varela, labeled HIV + more than 20 years ago, had a nimble and acute intellect, and it was not difficult for him to understand and share the dissident arguments.

His contribution to the struggle of AIDS dissidents, from my point of view, was very important. He was not only an active participant for years in dissident forums, both in English and Spanish, but he invested thousands of hours of his time in his little known work of translation, from English to Spanish, of articles and books. I want to highlight as examples the book by Janine Roberts Fear of the Invisible, translated by Leo with authorization, and the extensive article by Matt Irwin on the decreases of CD4 lymphocytes in people who are not HIV +, both published on our website Overcoming AIDS (superandoelsida.ning.com).

Except for the last stage of his life, that was very happy, the last years of Leo Varela’s life were not easy, especially after the death of his wife about four years ago. She was also labeled HIV +, like Leo, more than 20 years ago. Her death plunged him into deep pain. However, this did not stop him from continuing with his work translating dissident books and articles from English into Spanish and continuing with his collaboration in dissident forums.

It was in these forums where he met the person who became his love during the last stage of his life, the Argentine dissident doctor Nancy Dominguez, who was with him at the end.

I had the honor of having them as guests in my house on two occasions in recent times and I could see the deep affection and understanding that existed between them, as if they were two beings destined to destined to unite.

Although I never ask myself about the concrete cause of the death of a person labeled as HIV +, since I have had the opportunity to verify that almost all deaths are caused by errors and bad medical practices, I imagine that many people will want to know about the circumstances of Leo's death.

According to Nancy, who is also a doctor, and who accompanied him until his last moments, Leo Varela became ill upon arrival at the dissident meeting in mid-June in Vers Pont du Gard, France, and he was transferred to the hospital in Nimes, where an advanced stage liver cancer was detected.

I want to remind everyone that Leo Varela and his wife, who died a few years ago, had taken antiretrovirals for years. It was only after discovering the dissident movement, and their questions about whether HIV caused AIDS, that Leo stopped taking the ARVs. Among these ARVs was the infamous Retrovir (AZT), which Leo took for several years. Is it a coincidence that years after having stopped taking it, a hepatoma appeared, despite taking care of his health as Leo did?

I deeply feel the death of a friend and an active collaborator in this fight, a fight we all must continue so that all these deaths are not in vain.

Here are the links to the Spanish translations mentioned above:

· "Fear of the Invisible" by Janine Roberts

· “CD4 Counts and Ratios” by Matt Irwin