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Cuban govt slams company over scents

The Cuban government has censured the project of a state company for creating two colognes as tributes to the guerilla Che Guevara and the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"Projects of this kind will never be accepted by our people nor by the revolutionary government. Yesterday, today and forever, those symbols are sacred," President Raul Castro's Cabinet said in a note published on Saturday in the official daily Granma.

The government's reaction came after the Labiofam biotech firm unstoppered at an international congress in Havana the men's fragrances Ernesto and Hugo, created by its expert cosmetologists in commemoration of Che and Chavez.

The fragrances, which intrigued participants and press at the event, were created with essences from the French firm Robertet and were awaiting quality control in order to be launched on the market, possibly in 2015.

The note also said that "it is clearly not certain that the relatives of Che and Chavez would have approved such a use of their names," despite what certain officials had assured the press.

"The corresponding disciplinary measures will be taken for this grave error," it said.

Labiofam is headed by Jose Fraga Castro - nephew of Cuban President Raul Castro and his brother and predecessor, Fidel Castro - and is known chiefly for products for veterinary, human and agricultural use, made with natural substances and including homeopathic medications, household cleaning products and plastic containers.