Vilma, present

The eternal president of the Federation of Cuban Women is present in her people, to whom she devoted herself body and soul. Photo: Santiago Martí 

Second Front, Santiago de Cuba.— Aware that “Vilma’s example is today more necessary than ever,” representatives of various sectors of our society paid tribute to the Heroine of the Sierra and the Llano, 17 years after her physical departure, at the emblematic Mausoleum of the II Frank País García Front, where she was a combatant and where, in her own words, “the new social relations and the principles of human equality and dignity on which our Revolution is founded” began.
A bouquet of flowers sent by her comrade in a thousand battles, the leader of the Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, and the offering on behalf of the Cuban people, were placed in front of the monolith that treasures her ashes, as part of the military ceremony and the guard of honor officiated by students of the Camilo Cienfuegos Military School of Santiago de Cuba -continuators of Vilma’s legacy-, headed by the main political and governmental authorities of the province, as well as by the fighter of the II Eastern Front, First Colonel Alberto Vázquez.
Today the Homeland proudly contemplates again Vilma Espín Guillois, the daughter of the city of Santiago de Cuba who, like the mambisa Mariana Grajales, fought until her last days for just causes, especially for those of women. The eternal president of the Federation of Cuban Women is present in her people, to whom she devoted herself body and soul.