Fidel Castro’s ‘anti-assassination cigar box’ set to fetch thousands at auction

Collection is currently owned by a British businessman who knew dictator’s family

This file photo taken in the 1960s shows then-Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro lighting a cigar while listening to Che Guevara (AFP/Getty)

Fidel Castro’s anti-assassination cigar box is expected to fetch thousands at an auction later this month.

Several items from among the long-time Cuban leader’s personal effects are to go under the hammer, alongside others that belonged to fellow revolutionary Che Guevara.

A number of cigar-related items, including a case with space for secret messages, are expected to fetch tens of thousands of pounds. Guevara’s personal water bottle dating to the 1953-59 Cuban Revolution is worth an estimated £10,000.

Castro’s cigars were closely guarded for good reason.

The revolutionary leader was famous for having escaped hundreds of attempts to kill him during his 39-year rule. In 1975 it was even revealed to a US senate committee that the CIA had once planned to lace his cigars with botulinum toxin to kill him.

A water bottle belonging to Che Guevara is also going on sale (Paul Fraser Collectibles / SWNS)

A signed Cuban revolutionary flag and 130 original print photos of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Raul Castro – who ruled Cuba until 2018 – will also be sold.

Other items on the list include Castro’s ashtrays, fishing rods and Che Guevara’s flag from the failed US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

Paul Fraser, founder of Bristol-based auctioneers Paul Fraser Collectibles, said: “The word to sum up this auction is ‘personal’.

“These aren’t just pieces Castro and Guevara briefly touched or signed. These items were their personal property, used by these extraordinary figures of 20th-century history on a daily basis. That makes this auction unique.

“I’m expecting huge interest. Because after this auction, there is nothing else of this magnitude set to emerge ever again.”

A cigar box designed to prevent Fidel Castro from assassination attempts (Paul Fraser Collectibles / SWNS)

The collection is currently owned by a British businessman who knew the Castro family and their associates for more than 20 years.

Gary Shannon helped provide technology and communications infrastructure to Cuba. He acquired his collection at the estate sale of Castro’s mistress, Natty Revuelta Clews, between December 2015 and July 2016.

The auction runs from 26 May to 23 June 2022.