Cuba recalls Vilma Espin, a women rights champion

Havana, Apr 7 (Prensa Latina) Cuba recalls Thursday the life and work of heroine Vilma Espin, the leader of women rights, on what would be her 92nd birthday.

Espin (1930-2007) was a Movimiento 26 de Julio member, fought in Sierra Maestra (eastern Cuba) along Historic Leader Fidel Castro and worked since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 to guarantee women emancipation.

To achieve this goal, she founded the Federation of Cuban Women on August 23, 1960, to promote their empowerment and contribution to the country’s growth.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote about her: “Her tender firmness when founding work and a family, when organizing alongside women a Revolution within the Revolution, must be a permanent school in the Cuba she loved so much.”

Espin was also one of the main promoters of daycare centers, founded on April 10, 1961.

Daycare centers were founded to look after children under school age to help mothers who needed to start working.

This heroine, who died in June, 2007, was also Army General Raul Castro’s wife.

Her remains are laid to rest in the Frank Pais Second Eastern Front Mausoleum in Santiago de Cuba.