Fidel Enjoys Public Outing

Appears Healthy, Enegized
{Updated: Saturday, April 9th, 2016}

      89-year-old Fidel Castro...he turns 90 on August 13th...seemed to thoroughly enjoy a public outing Thursday -- April 7th, 2016. He showed up and participated fully in a ceremony at the Vilma Espin Educational Complex in the Playa municipality. The occasion was to honor the late revolutionary heroine Vilma Espin on what would have been her 86th birthday. Fidel made an enthusiastic speech in which he said, "I'm sure that this day Vilma would be very happy. She would be seeing why she sacrificed her life fighting for the revolution. If she were here today she would be seeing the energy she fought so hard for." Fidel then eagerly conversed with the students at the complex. Cuban state television featured that interaction and many of his enthusiastic comments. Shortly, a two-minute and 37-second video and audio clip appeared on YouTube and you can easily access it by using this title: "Fidel Castro rinde homenaje a Vilma Espin."

Fidel honoring Vilma Espin April 7, 2016.

Fidel with student at Vilma Espin ceremony, April 7, 2016.

Fidel at Vilma Espin ceremony on April 7th, 2016.

      Vilma Espin was born on April 7, 1930 in Santiago de Cuba. She died of cancer on June 18, 2007. She was a legendary guerrilla fighter during the Revolutionary War and married Raul Castro right after the triumph of the revolution on January 1, 1959, and remained married to him till her death. She is the mother of Raul's four children. Prior to returning to Cuba for the revolution, she was studying in the USA at MIT.

      Although married to Raul Castro, Vilma was always very close to Fidel Castro. After his soulmate, Celia Sanchez, refused the title of First Lady, Vilma accepted it. In Revolutionary Cuba, Vilma was a superstar and, among her many achievements, she founded the ultra-powerful Federation of Cuban Women.

       No matter how easily or seamlessly it is denied, this photo depicts Revolutionary Cuba's Big Four: Vilma Espin, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and Celia Sanchez. Celia died of cancer at 59 on January 11, 1980.

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