Che Guevara hair lock to be auctioned

DALLAS - Anyone can get a "Che" T-shirt for a few bucks, but an actual relic from the revolutionary figure is likely to cost a bit more at an auction Thursday.

Bidding starts at $100,000 for a 3-inch lock of hair from Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Marxist whose iconic picture has become a popular, even sometimes fashionable commodity since he was killed in a Bolivian jungle 40 years ago this month.

Heritage Auction Galleries is putting the hair, allegedly snipped off Guevara before burial, up for sale despite alleged threats made against the company by Guevara admirers since the auction was announced in September.

The Dallas-based auction house said it will have extra security on hand for the bidding after monitoring "leftist bloggers" upset that the company is profiting from Guevara's death.

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Norwine said the hair hasn't been forensically matched to Guevara because of fears of test tampering. But she said the auction house is confident in its authenticity.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071025/ap_on_fe_st/che_auction

actually belongs to the CIA agent!!!

The hair was consigned by Gustavo Villoldo, a former CIA operative and Cuban exile who was involved in Guevara's capture, according to unclassified U.S. records and other documents.

According to Heritage, Villoldo did not want Guevara's body to be returned to Cuba, where it would receive a hero's funeral, so he supervised the burial in a common grave where a runway was being built.

"I wanted proof," Villoldo said of taking the hair, "that I had completed my mission."

That's just not "OK" any way I look at it.

How idiotic.

But I'll bet the phrase "allegedly snipped off Guevara" won't deter people who just HAVE TO HAVE unique 'stuff' to make themselves feel special!!!