lock of socialist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara's hair and related items were auctioned on Thursday in Dallas to a Houston-area bookstore owner for the very capitalist sum of $119,500.
The curious collection had belonged to Gustavo Villoldo, 71, a former CIA operative who helped hunt Guevara down in the jungles of Bolivia in 1967 and who claims he cut off the lock before burying the guerrilla fighter with two of his comrades.
There was media speculation that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a leftist who greatly admires the iconic Guevara, would bid for the items.
In the end, it went to Houston-based Bill Butler.
"Butler ... is thrilled to own items from Che (and) will display them in his store," said Kelley Norwine, vice president of marketing for Heritage Auction Galleries, which auctioned the mementos.
The auction house said the hair could provide DNA proof that the remains of Guevara -- affectionately known by his admirers as "Che" -- are in Cuba, where he is venerated as a hero of the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power five decades ago.
Then 39, the bearded rebel was captured by CIA-backed Bolivian soldiers on October 8, 1967 and shot dead the next day in a schoolhouse. Some remains believed to be his were dug up decades later and taken to Cuba.
"This may be the only DNA that could prove that Castro has his body. Gustavo helped bury Che and he claims there were only two other bodies with his corpse," Norwine told Reuters shortly before the auction, as she pointed to the dark lock of hair sealed in a plastic envelope in a glass display case.
