Talk:Vilma Espín

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 20 August 2019 and 6 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): 18jkalmar. Peer reviewers: Melisawesome, Katherineamerica, Dmangooo.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 12:26, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Untitled
Much of this seemed to come straight from the OAS article. Is that copyvio ? I have reordered to group together her long-term role, he leading of delegations and family matters. -- Beardo 21:00, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Name
It strikes me - why do we have at her full name. She is much more commonly referred to simply as Vilma Espin. We don't use Fidel Castro Ruz etc, do we ? -- Beardo 02:14, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I've changed it. There doesn't seem to be much order to the names business. I know that the Spanish wikipedia simply has Fidel Castro as well, but like us, many other pages carry both names. Maybe that is something to consider for the wikiproject!!! I'll see what can be discovered by searching for any Spanish naming conventions chats.--Zleitzen 02:43, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I think that the second surname is somewhat like middle names - it is part of the legal name, but for most people it is not commonly used - though for some it is. Apart from my son, who regularly denies that he has a second surname ! -- Beardo 04:59, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Vilma's role in power struggle between Guevara and Frank Pais
Beardo The article needs balance and to mention the nasty things she did such as Vilma's "accidental" phone call that betrayed Frank Pais. This is also said mentioned in Robert Freeman Smith (The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Aug., 1975), pp. 585-586) but as yet I have not read this. Vilma naturally blames someone else. There is also juicy gossip that she seduced somebody and then yelled rape, to get rid of another rival. This is from memory but I will try to get citations. Jose Espin her father hid some of the Moncada attackers in 1953 (The Cuban Insurrection, 1952-1959. by Ramon Bonachea, Marta San Martin p. 52). However, these survivors were later killed by Batista forces. Nilsa Espin, Vilma's sister, was murdered or commited suicide in Raul Castro's office in 1969. Vilma is said to be one of the most corrupt among the Castro elite in Cuba and it is alleged that her brother left Cuba to live the life of a millionaire in Ecuador. El Jigue 1-2-07/1-6-06

In Karol, K. S. (Translated from the French by Arnold Pomerans) 1970 Guerrillas in Power. The Course of the Cuban Revolution. Hill & Wang New York. (A review is available in Hispanic American Historical Review, 51, (4) (Nov., 1971) pp. 670-674. This author was educated as a communist and it shows.  However, Footnote 113 pp. 173-174 demonstrates the struggle for power between Guevara and Frank País, and can be taken to suggest that the Guevara and Raul used Vilma Espín for their purposes.  And this also demonstrates Guevara over weaning ambition in that despite his Argentine accent which would have given him away as soon as he opened his mouth in Santiago de Cuba) he wanted to be Frank País’ s replacement in “El Llano.” Footnote 114 on p. 174 ends with”…On the day of victory the human material was politically immature, even on admission of many veterans, and this explains why so many guerrilleros later defected.” In other words El Llano rebels were not communists nor were most of those in the Sierra; thus by definition sooner or later they would be candidates for purges by Fidel, Guevara and Raul. Jon Anderson (1997 "Che Guevara, Grove Press, New York ISBN 0802116000) mentions some of the other nasty things that happened in the Sierra at that time.   In 1957 These purges led to desertions and almost complete cessation of (rebel) military actions see Anderson p. 277 and many other places in the book.  These purges continued even during la ofensiva; for instance Anderson notes on page 326 Che Guevara condemns and apparently executes a rebel officer (unnamed) from Crescencio's group.  In these cases we only have Guevara's words as to the guilt of the condemned and he is now unlikely to retract his statements (:>). However although they are aging there are still some witness to these events.  El Jigue 1-3-06/1-6-06

Vilma according to Anderson p. 406 continued to participate in Che's organizational activities in the early years after victory. El Jigue 1-6-06

Start classification
I have classified this as a start as per WP:BIO to make it consistent with the WP:Cuba classification. The importance rating is based on the Cuban classification as well. Capitalistroadster 00:53, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

First Lady
The article describes her as unofficial first lady from 2006 to 2007, but my understanding is that she was considered first lady from the entire period from the revolution until her death due to Fidel's secrecy about his private life. Everyking 20:02, 19 June 2007 (UTC)


 * And how can we have a succession box for something like that ? How do you determine which if there are competing claimants ? (Surely Celia Sanchez was until her death ?) It's too unencyclopedic. I agree with the removal. -- Beardo 03:26, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Proposed edits
I plan to add more information about Espín’s role in the government and the revolution; a separate section discussing her family will be added, and a new introduction focusing more on her actions and less on her husband and children will replace the existing one. Information about her family is still relevant, but it is not necessarily the most important aspect of Espín's life. Statements without citations will either be cited or removed, and more details about the Federation of Cuban Women will be added to that section. I plan to use the following sources to make these changes; biased sources, such as those written by Cuban leaders, will only be used to provide context for said leaders’ viewpoints.

Castro, Fidel, and Vilma Espín. Women and the Cuban Revolution. Edited by Elizabeth Stone. New York, NY: Pathfinder Press, 1981.

"Espin, Vilma." In The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography, edited by Jennifer S. Uglow, Frances Hinton, and Maggy Hendry. 4th ed. Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2005. http://0-search.credoreference.com.dewey2.library.denison.edu/content/entry/macdwb/espin_vilma/0?institutionId=4607

Lamrani, Salim. 2016. “Women in Cuba: The Emancipatory Revolution.” International Journal of Cuban Studies 8 (1): 109–16. doi:10.13169/intejcubastud.8.1.0109.

Marottoli, Rosalind. 1976. "Four Women of the Cuban Revolution: Haydée Santamaría, Melba Hernández, Vilma Espín, Celia Sánchez." Order No. EP29098, Southern Connecticut State University. https://search.proquest.com/docview/302808823?accountid=15131.

Murphy, Julien S., Ofelia Schutte, Jan Slagter, and Linda Lopez McAlister. "Feminism in Cuba: Report from the Third Conference of North American and Cuban Philosophers." Hypatia 6, no. 3 (1991): 227-32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3809851.

"Obituary: Vilma Espín Guillois, Wife of Raúl Castro, 77." New York Times Company, last modified Jun 19.

Stoner, K. Lynn. "Espín de Castro, Vilma (1930–2007)." In Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, 2nd ed., edited by Jay Kinsbruner and Erick D. Langer, 138. Vol. 3. Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008. Gale eBooks (accessed October 17, 2019). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3078902120/GVRL?u=ohlnk162&sid=GVRL&xid=48ea5d04.

Suchlicki, Jaime. "Espín, Vilma." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. : Oxford University Press, 2008. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195148909.001.0001/acref-9780195148909-e-307.

"Vilma Espin: Final 1 Edition]." 2007.The Times, Jun 20, 68. https://search.proquest.com/docview/319763650?accountid=15131.

18jkalmar (talk) 16:49, 17 October 2019 (UTC)

Feedback:
I think you make a crucial point in making sure that her family section should be separate because she is more than her family or husband. I think it is important to credit her success without the mention of her husband. What will the section of her family include? I am excited to see your edits!

Dmangooo (talk) 02:09, 23 October 2019 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Women's Movements in Latin America
— Assignment last updated by Sofiarociofis (talk) 16:19, 28 November 2023 (UTC)