page_title: Vilma Espín
section_title: Role in the Cuban government
hierarchical_section_title: Vilma Espín / Role in the Cuban government
caption_attribution_description: English: Uniform used by Vilma Espín Guillois during the Cuban Revolution, housed in the Museum of the Revolution in Cuba
context_page_description: Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois was a Cuban revolutionary, feminist, and chemical engineer. She helped supply and organize the 26th of July Movement as an underground spy, and took an active role in many branches of the Cuban government from the conclusion of the revolution to her death. As an adamant feminist, Espín helped found the Federation of Cuban Women and promoted equal rights for Cuban women in all spheres of life.
context_section_description: Espín served as a member of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party from 1965 to 1989. She also held many other roles in the Cuban government, including chair of the Commission for Social Prevention from 1967 to 1971, director of Industrial Development in the Ministry of Food in 1969, president of the Institute of Childcare in 1971, and member of the Cuban Council of State in 1976. In addition to her roles within Cuba, Espín also served as Cuba's representative at the United Nations General Assembly.
  Espín took on the role of Cuba's First Lady for 45 years, initially taking on the role as the sister-in-law to Fidel Castro, who was divorced at the time he came to power. She officially became the First Lady in 2006 when her husband, Raúl Castro, became president.
  Espín headed the Cuban Delegation to the Congress of the International Federation of Democratic Women in Chile in September 1959. She also headed the Cuban delegations to subsequent Conferences on Women, praising them as "invaluable to women in developing countries."
caption: Vilma's guerrilla uniform.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "3264", "Image ImageLength": "2448", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 5", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "610667/1000", "Image YResolution": "610667/1000", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2017:01:24 21:36:20", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "296", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[23, 8, 2543/100]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[82, 21, 738/25]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "7608/583", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[21, 31, 2377/100]", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "0", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "T", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "6482/907", "GPS GPSDestBearingRef": "T", "GPS GPSDestBearing": "6482/907", "GPS GPSDate": "2017:01:16", "GPS Tag 0x001F": "65", "Image GPSInfo": "852", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1258", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4892", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/120", "EXIF FNumber": "12/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:01:16 16:31:36", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:01:16 16:31:36", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "5567/806", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4845/1918", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "7585/1367", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "103/25", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[1631, 1223, 1795, 1077]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "373", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "373", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "33", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[103/25, 103/25, 12/5, 12/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone 5 back camera 4.12mm f/2.4"}