Post by RedFlag32 on Jul 21, 2007 22:27:53 GMT
In CubaNews@yahoogroups.com,
<http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/19657>
Vilma Espin : Adams extends condolences Death of Cuban
revolutionary Vilma Espin
BY CAOILFHIONN Ní DHONNABHÁIN
Cuban revolutionary Vilma Espin died on Monday, 18 June at
the age of 77 after a long illness.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has extended his deepest
sympathies to the Cuban People, to Acting President Raul
Castro Ruz, family and friends of Vilma Espin on her death.
Adams said: "Vilma Espin was a genuine representative of
Cuban women. She played a decisive role from the beginning
of the revolutionary struggle in her native home of
Santiago De Cuba, `The cradle of the Revolution'. "She
dedicated her life to the defence of equal rights for women
in Cuba and internationally through her work in the
Federation of Cuban Women. "Vilma Espin together with the
Cuban People has written a page in the history of Humanity
which is an inspiration for those of us around the world
who struggle for justice and equality and for which we are
eternally grateful.
Vilma Espín Guillois, who was born in 1930 in Santiago de
Cuba, went on to be one of the most prominent women in
revolutionary Cuba. She is credited with having been the
driving force in advancing the position of women in that
country. She described herself as coming from "a petit
bourgeois family in Santiago de Cuba" where she grew up
"without obstacles to my development". While her father was
a lawyer for the Bacardi Rum company which fled Cuba after
the revolution, she herself maintained that her parents
understood the struggle she was involved in and identified
with it.
Espin was in her fourth year of studying Chemical
Engineering at university when the Batista Coup of 1952
took place. She later recalled this as one of the key
events that drove her to political activism saying it
"awakened a tremendous rebellion in us all".
Leader Espin was involved with Frank País in organising the
November 1956 Santiago de Cuba uprising and was a leader of
July 26 Movement in Oriente Province in the eastern part of
Cuba. She played a key role in the preparations for the
landing of the Granma yacht which was carrying Fidel
Castro, his brother Raul, Che Guevara and rebels to Cuba
from Mexico. She had previously acted as conduit between
Castro in Mexico and Pais who was the best known face of
the anti-Batista movement in Cuba (País was executed by
Batsista's forces in July 1957).
A key figure in the urban guerrilla struggle in the
Santiago de Cuba, better known by her nom de guerre,
"Deborah", she was high on the wanted list. Espin spent the
last six months before the triumph of the revolution
fighting with the Rebel Army in the Sierra Maestra. It was
here she met Raul Castro whom she married in 1959. Speaking
following Vilma Espin's death Fidel Castro said "For almost
half a century, I have been witness to Vilma's struggles. I
cannot forget her presence at the meetings of the July 26
Movement in the Sierra Maestra. She was eventually sent by
the movement's directorate to carry out an important
mission on the Second Eastern Front. Vilma did not shrink
from any danger."
Advanced position of women Vilma
Espin founded the Federation of Cuban Women in 1960, and
remained president of the organisation until her death. The
Federation was established in order to advance the position
of women and enable them to access the education and
training that they were not able to access in the
pre-revolutionary period.
It was Espin who drew up the Family Code of 1975 which gave
women equal rights and obliged husbands by law to share
housework and childcare. She was the Director of Industrial
Development of the Food Industry and President of the
Childhood Institute. She presided over the National Social
Prevention and Assistance Commission and the Cuban
Parliament's Commission for Assistance to Children and
Youth and the National Group on Sexual Education. Espín was
also a member of the Council of State of Cuba.
Vilma Espín was the author of number of books, including
Women and the Cuban Revolution (1981), Cuban Women Confront
the Future (1991) and Unforgettable Frank about Frank País
(2006). In accordance with her wishes, Espin's ashes were
placed in a mausoleum in eastern Cuba's Sierra Maestra
mountains that contains the remains of other rebel
fighters.
<http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/19657>
Vilma Espin : Adams extends condolences Death of Cuban
revolutionary Vilma Espin
BY CAOILFHIONN Ní DHONNABHÁIN
Cuban revolutionary Vilma Espin died on Monday, 18 June at
the age of 77 after a long illness.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has extended his deepest
sympathies to the Cuban People, to Acting President Raul
Castro Ruz, family and friends of Vilma Espin on her death.
Adams said: "Vilma Espin was a genuine representative of
Cuban women. She played a decisive role from the beginning
of the revolutionary struggle in her native home of
Santiago De Cuba, `The cradle of the Revolution'. "She
dedicated her life to the defence of equal rights for women
in Cuba and internationally through her work in the
Federation of Cuban Women. "Vilma Espin together with the
Cuban People has written a page in the history of Humanity
which is an inspiration for those of us around the world
who struggle for justice and equality and for which we are
eternally grateful.
Vilma Espín Guillois, who was born in 1930 in Santiago de
Cuba, went on to be one of the most prominent women in
revolutionary Cuba. She is credited with having been the
driving force in advancing the position of women in that
country. She described herself as coming from "a petit
bourgeois family in Santiago de Cuba" where she grew up
"without obstacles to my development". While her father was
a lawyer for the Bacardi Rum company which fled Cuba after
the revolution, she herself maintained that her parents
understood the struggle she was involved in and identified
with it.
Espin was in her fourth year of studying Chemical
Engineering at university when the Batista Coup of 1952
took place. She later recalled this as one of the key
events that drove her to political activism saying it
"awakened a tremendous rebellion in us all".
Leader Espin was involved with Frank País in organising the
November 1956 Santiago de Cuba uprising and was a leader of
July 26 Movement in Oriente Province in the eastern part of
Cuba. She played a key role in the preparations for the
landing of the Granma yacht which was carrying Fidel
Castro, his brother Raul, Che Guevara and rebels to Cuba
from Mexico. She had previously acted as conduit between
Castro in Mexico and Pais who was the best known face of
the anti-Batista movement in Cuba (País was executed by
Batsista's forces in July 1957).
A key figure in the urban guerrilla struggle in the
Santiago de Cuba, better known by her nom de guerre,
"Deborah", she was high on the wanted list. Espin spent the
last six months before the triumph of the revolution
fighting with the Rebel Army in the Sierra Maestra. It was
here she met Raul Castro whom she married in 1959. Speaking
following Vilma Espin's death Fidel Castro said "For almost
half a century, I have been witness to Vilma's struggles. I
cannot forget her presence at the meetings of the July 26
Movement in the Sierra Maestra. She was eventually sent by
the movement's directorate to carry out an important
mission on the Second Eastern Front. Vilma did not shrink
from any danger."
Advanced position of women Vilma
Espin founded the Federation of Cuban Women in 1960, and
remained president of the organisation until her death. The
Federation was established in order to advance the position
of women and enable them to access the education and
training that they were not able to access in the
pre-revolutionary period.
It was Espin who drew up the Family Code of 1975 which gave
women equal rights and obliged husbands by law to share
housework and childcare. She was the Director of Industrial
Development of the Food Industry and President of the
Childhood Institute. She presided over the National Social
Prevention and Assistance Commission and the Cuban
Parliament's Commission for Assistance to Children and
Youth and the National Group on Sexual Education. Espín was
also a member of the Council of State of Cuba.
Vilma Espín was the author of number of books, including
Women and the Cuban Revolution (1981), Cuban Women Confront
the Future (1991) and Unforgettable Frank about Frank País
(2006). In accordance with her wishes, Espin's ashes were
placed in a mausoleum in eastern Cuba's Sierra Maestra
mountains that contains the remains of other rebel
fighters.
