Cuban government kicks up stink over Che cologne

Cuban government kicks up stink over Che cologne
AFP SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 2:31AM

THE Cuban government today denounced a state-run company for using the
"sacred" names of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and legendary
Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara for new fragrances, saying
those responsible will be disciplined.

Company officials had told reporters the "Ernesto" and "Hugo" colognes,
still under development, aimed to honour the figures, but a statement by
Cuba's Council of Ministers said that the men were "symbols, sacred
yesterday, today and always".

"Initiatives of this nature will never be accepted by our people and by
the revolutionary government," the council said in a statement,
published in Cuba's state-run newspaper Granma.

"Because of this serious error, appropriate disciplinary measures will
be taken," the body, chaired by President Raul Castro, added, noting it
was "not true that the 'Che' and Chavez families approved such use of
their names."

Late leftist firebrand Chavez led close Cuba ally Venezuela for 14
years. He died of cancer on March 5 last year at the age of 58, leaving
behind a country sharply divided by his oil-funded socialist revolution.

Guevara, a leader of the Cuban revolution, left the island in the 1960s
to foment revolutions in Africa and Latin America before his death in
Bolivia in 1967.

The company behind the scents, Grupo Empresarial Labiofam, is Cuba's
largest laboratory, responsible for research and production of
veterinary and health products, which the island nation exports.

AFP

Source: Cuban government kicks up stink over Che cologne | The
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