Tribute to Vilma
on her 80th birthday
José Antonio Torres
SANTIAGO DE CUBA.— Cuban Vice President José
Ramón Machado Ventura presided over the inauguration
of the Vilma Espín Guillois Memorial, which
testifies to the humane influence of our Cuban
heroine, outstanding combatant and paradigm of
revolutionary womanhood.
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Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura
with Asela de los Santos and family members
of the heroine at the Memorial to Vilma Espín. |
The memorial pays tribute to Vilma on the 80th
anniversary of her birth and is a reference point
for understanding her legacy of fortitude,
generosity and patriotism, affirmed Havana City
Historian Eusebio Leal during the ceremony, which
included the participation of her children,
relatives and other close friends.
The six rooms in the museum summarize the
different stages of Vilma’s life and work and
conserve dozens of photos, thoughts, personal
garments, graphics, and illustrations that renew the
legacy of this mother, wife, combatant, and
exceptional female leader.
Music composed by Commander of the Revolution
Juan Almeida Bosque and performances by Orfeón
Santiago, the Children’s Choir, and dance pieces
from the Vocational School of Arts, and Fátima
Patterson offered the artistic component of the
inauguration. Frank Fernández played several pieces
on the piano that were once sung by Vilma Espín,
among them lullabies to her children and Agustín
Lara’s "Cielito lindo."
Army Corps General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra, member
of the Political Bureau and minister of the
interior, as well as Central Committee Armando Hart,
Yolanda Ferrer and Lázaro Expósito, attended the
inauguration.
The tribute to Vilma Espín also included the
placing of flowers before the obelisk holding her
remains in the Mayarí Arriba Mausoleum and a
cultural gala "Al nacer de la ternura," which took
place in the Dolores Concert Hall in Havana.
