Vilma Espín

Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (April 7, 1930 – June 18, 2007) was a Cuban revolutionary, feminist, and chemical engineer. She was married to Raúl Castro, the current Cuban President, who is the brother to former Cuban President Fidel Castro. Espín had four children (Deborah - married to Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, Mariela, Nilsa, and Alejandro Castro Espín) and seven grandchildren. Her daughter, Mariela Castro, currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, and her son, Alejandro Castro Espín, is a Colonel in the Ministry of Interior. Espín was often described as "Cuba's First Lady".

Spouse(s)

• Raúl Castro

Relations

• Fidel Castro (brother-in-law)
• José Espín (father)
• Margarita Guillois (mother)
• Nilsa Espín Guillois (sister)
• Iván Espín Guillois (brother)
• Sonia Espín Guillois (sister)
• José Espín Guillois (brother)

Children

• Deborah Castro Espín
• Mariela Castro Espín
• Nilsa Castro Espín
• Alejandro Castro Espín

Early life

Vilma Espín Guillois was born on April 7, 1930, in Santiago de Cuba the daughter of a wealthy Cuban lawyer, Jose Espín and wife Margarita Guillois. She had four siblings, Nilsa, Iván, Sonia and José. In the 1950s, she studied chemical engineering at Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba (one of the first women in Cuba to study this subject), and post-graduate studies at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Role in the Cuban revolution

Returning home, she became more involved with the opposition to the dictator Fulgencio Batista. A meeting with revolutionary leader Frank País led her to become a leader of the revolutionary movement in Oriente province. Espín met the Castro brothers whom had relocated to Mexico due to exile because of their failed invasion on the Moncada Barracks. Espin acted as a messenger between the Julio 26 Movement in Mexico and Pais back in Cuba. She then went on to assist the revolutionaries in the Sierra Maestra mountains after the 26th of July Movement's return to Cuba on the Granma yacht. She and Raúl married in January 1959.

Vilma Espin was actually one of the most significant revolutionaries to prevent any intervention by the United States government. In 1957, General Lyman Kirkpatrick of the CIA was sent to Oriente Cuba to find out whether or not Castro's Julio 26 Movement had any ties to communism. He was sent to meet with some of Cuba's main bankrollers in the revolution. The largest of these bankrollers was a company called Bacardi Corp. Vilma Espin's father was Bacardi Corp.'s main lawyer. She agreed to sit down and meet with General Kirkpatrick. When asked about Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and Che Guevara's ties to communism, she replied by saying that these claims were laughable. She said, "all such accusations were Batistiano rumors." She convinced General Kirkpatrick that there were no communistic ties, as he was reported to have returned home in support of Castro.

Vilma Espin was also a very outspoken supporter of gender equality in Cuba. Her involvement in the revolution helped transform gender norms in Cuba and in 1960, Espin became the president of Federacion de Mujeres Cubanas. This translates to "The Federation of Cuban Women" in English. She advocated for female literacy as well as a woman's right to work. Many of her efforts as President to empower include teaching women basic skills in both health and education. In 1960, sugar mills and cane fields were being attacked across Cuba, (shortly before the Bay of Pigs invasion), in response the The Federation of Cuban Women created "Emergency Medical Response Brigades" as an outlet for women to be more involved in the defense against counterrevolutionary attacks. The values held by Espin were shared by Fidel Castro and the Cuban government. In 1966, Castro made a speech to the nation, urging women to join the labor force. Since women were joining the workforce they spent less time at home with their children, The Federation of Cuban Women created child care centers for children of working women.

Role in the Cuban government

Espín was President of the Federation of Cuban Women from its foundation in 1960 until her death. The organization is a recognized non-government organization which claims a membership of more than three and a half million women, and is generally recognised as a Quango or GONGO. Espín was also a member of the Council of State of Cuba, as well as a member of the Central Committee and the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1980 to 1991.

Espin was involved in Cuban politics and was respected by both Fidel Castro and Raul Castro, she is often referred as "The First Lady of Cuba" because of her close relationship with the Castros. Espin was involved in the passing of the Cuban Family Code of 1975 which required shared housework between a man and woman.

Espín also headed the Cuban Delegation to the First Latin American Congress on Women and Children in Chile in September 1959. She also headed the Cuban delegations to the Conferences on Women held in Mexico, Copenhagen, Nairobi and Beijing.

Death

Espín died in Havana at 4:14 p.m. EDT on June 18, 2007, following a long illness. An official mourning-period was declared from 8 p.m. on June 18 until 10 p.m. on June 19. Her body was cremated, and her remains rest in the "II Frente Frank País" Mausoleum.