Acting Cuban
president Raul Castro blinked back tears Tuesday as he
placed a red rose before a portrait of his late wife, Vilma
Espin Guillois, who was the first lady of the Cuban
revolution--a guerrilla warrior and pioneer for
the rights of gays and women.
Castro has
governed the island for nearly 11 months while his brother
Fidel recovers from intestinal surgery, but Espin, who died
Monday at 77, was Cuba's most powerful woman for
decades, campaigning for equality of the sexes in
education, work, and other aspects of life. She was also an
advocate for decriminalizing homosexuality,
which the government agreed to do in 1979.
"She was a
tremendous revolutionary but also a tremendous woman,'' said
Sara Hurtado, a 58-year-old retired Havana health worker.
''She was a role model for all the women in Cuba.''
No cause of death
was reported, but Espin was said to suffer from severe
circulatory problems.
Flags flew at
half-mast as thousands lined up outside the towering white
marble Jose Marti monument on the capital's Revolution
Plaza to file past a head-high black and white photo
of Espin.
Arianna Patino, a
19-year-old Tourism Ministry worker, stood in line with
her colleagues for two hours to pay her respects. Of Espin's
generation ''there are fewer and fewer left,'' Patino
said.
Espin's death is
a reminder that the dashing young rebels who built
Cuba's communist system are nearing the end of their lives,
opening an uncertain chapter in the nation's history.
(AP)