Cuban cigar box on sale for $17,000 may not have belonged to Che Guevara

When a Cuban cigar box purportedly owned by Ernesto “Che” Guevara was due to go up for sale at a British auction house last month, it appeared to be not just a piece of history but a partial repudiation of the revolutionary icon’s reputation for austerity.

But the planned sale by Mullock’s, with a price tag for £12,000 ($17,000), was scuppered by the Cuban institute responsible for safeguarding Guevara’s legacy, which claims the item was not one of his possessions.

The case highlights the challenges faced by the revolutionary’s heirs to protect an image and a name that have been used to sell everything from T-shirts and posters to vodka and bikinis.

Guevara – an Argentinian guerrilla who helped Fidel Castro seize power in Cuba in 1959 – reportedly went to great lengths to avoid imputations of luxury or suggestions that he profited from his position. Despite promotion to a ministerial position, he is said to have remained on the salary of a common soldier and refused gifts offered to himself or his family. Read More>