'Che,' Chavez perfumes a no-go in Cuba

'Che,' Chavez perfumes a no-go in Cuba
Perfume plans disrespected 'sacred symbols,' government says
Author: By Patrick Oppmann CNN
Published On: Sep 27 2014 04:04:56 PM CDT Updated On: Sep 28 2014
07:36:55 AM CDT

HAVANA (CNN) -
The revolution, apparently, will not have its own perfume line.

Fragrances dedicated to leftist guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara
and deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, have been canceled for
disrespecting "sacred symbols," according to a government statement
published Saturday in the Cuban Communist Party daily Granma.

A day after the revolutionary-themed fragrances -- called "Ernesto" and
"Hugo" -- were announced, the island's top leadership criticized a
Cuban-state company for trying to cash in on the men's images.

"Appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken for this grave error, "
read the statement from the executive committee of the Cuban government
Council of Ministers. "Initiatives of this type will never be accepted
by the people or the revolutionary government."

After fighting along side Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution, Guevara,
a native of Argentina, was killed in 1967 while trying to foment another
leftist uprising in Bolivia.

Cuban government officials have previously criticized international
companies' efforts to capitalize on Guevara's famous visage, which has
been used to market everything from rock bands to luxury automobiles.

Chavez was a key ally to the Cuban government, supplying the island with
millions of barrels of oil and adopting a brand of socialism similar to
the Cuban revolution's in his native Venezuela. He died in 2013 from cancer.

According to the Cuban government statement, neither of the men's
families approved the use of their names for the perfumes.

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