Vilma Espin, relevant and necessary as always

June 18, 2024 marks a new anniversary -exactly the 17th- of the physical death of Vilma Espin Guillois, heroine of the Sierra and the Llano in the definitive liberation battles, and more than the memory of endearing images and documents, the imprint made by her work and sobering thought, inspiring the daily life of everyone, encourages our hearts.

And if today Vilma is more than an evocation and a nostalgia before the glorious mountain of Micara, in the Cuban East where her ashes rest since 2007, it is possible because she lives in the strength, intelligence, courage, patriotism and firmness of principles of her compatriots, in whom she influenced with her intense work to make them what they are today.

Born on April 7, 1930, in the city of Santiago de Cuba, she knew how to show very early in her life three characteristics of Cuban women: temper, generosity and delicacy. That is why it is not inappropriate to say that today we feel her in the streets and countryside of this land, wherever a fellow woman is.

She is also present because she helped all Cubans to see which was the right path to follow in terms of participation of women, children and youth in social and political tasks, whether it was understood in the beginning or not, and she knew how to do it in an educational way, advocating unity and family love, solidarity among all, and without rest.

Even those who look for her these days to pay her a deep homage in the cemetery, will find her more in the serenity and the imposing beauty of the surroundings, in the pure love for her families and descendants, than in the sadness linked to her death. No one thinks of absence when they remember her.

Likewise, the founder of the Cuban Women's Federation (1960), or simply Vilma, is perceived as a person of dialogue and at the same time a guide, a standard-bearer and companion in so many struggles for gender equality and the advancement of women. Sometimes she is also evoked as the educator, mother, wife, founder of the family...

This mature and equanimous Cuban lived a very dynamic adolescence and early youth, full of intrepid and courageous actions, when she was the legendary Deborah of the clandestine struggle or the multifaceted guerrilla of the 2nd Frank Pais Eastern Front.

Daughter of a city of great patriotic traditions, this circumstance had a decisive influence on her development, but neither can we ignore the fact of having had parents who inculcated in her a love for study, culture, sports and strong civic values.

In 1948 he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and enrolled in the then new Universidad de Oriente to study Chemical Engineering.
Her political education was strengthened by the coup d'état perpetrated by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, although long before that she had participated in the student movement that spoke out against acts of corruption and injustice, and in favor of solidarity with other people.

Those were times when she was seen tireless in her combative comings and goings that enhanced her physical presence and sensitive way of being. She was characterized since then for being tender and natural, friend and companion of the most humble or helpless people.

As a member of the Eastern University Student Federation (FEUO), she was in the front line in each of the demonstrations in the streets of Santiago: from the protest against the bloody coup d'état of the tyrant Batista to the demand for the return of constitutional guarantees, the mobilization for the death of Ruben Batista, murdered by the regime, and when the assault on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago and the "Carlos Manuel de Cespedes" in Bayamo took place.

The bonds of collaboration between her and Frank Pais, leader of the revolutionaries of the East, were very close. After the 26th of July they became indestructible and the young woman became a member of the organizations founded by him in the struggle against the Batista dictatorship, and when the 26th of July Movement was later created, they both joined its ranks.

After graduating as a chemical engineer in the mid 50's, she went to the United States for a postgraduate course. In the maelstrom of the clandestine struggle, on her return to Cuba she went to Mexico, following the guidelines of the Movement's leadership. It was a brief stopover in order to meet with Fidel Castro, who gave him orientations and messages that he passed on to the country's troops.

In the heroic Santiago de Cuba at that time, he lived a new test of fire in the armed uprising of November 30, 1956, in support of the disembarkation of the expeditionaries of the Granma yacht. It happened under the orders of Frank himself.

Assuming more and more political and military responsibilities within the 26th of July Movement, after the assassination of Frank Pais in 1957, Vilma's life was in serious danger and with it her valuable contribution to the cause to which she had devoted herself.

Since 1958 Vilma has been part of the ranks of the Rebel Army, and being a combatant of the 2nd Eastern Front Frank Pais fulfilled military, organizational, educational, political and educational missions.

The birth of the Revolution in 1959 brought her a new life and different but equally challenging tasks. One of them was to accept Fidel's assignment to preside over the Cuban Women's Federation, founded at the Leader's request on August 23, 1960, with which her life and work took on new and enriching aspects for her and Cuban society, not only for her fellow women.

She was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba since its foundation in 1965, and later was a member of the Political Bureau for several years. In Parliament, she headed the National Commission for Prevention and Social Attention, and the Commission for Children, Youth and Women's Equal Rights.

The banners of the struggles waged in present days for gender equality, against violence against women and children, attention to the family in its integrity, respect for the elders, for the founding fathers, continue to be closer and possible goals for Cuba, due to Vilma's leadership. That is why in her tribute there are memories and forcefulness of a work, and reasons to continue fighting.