Supporters carrying the banner of the FMC or Federaltion of Cuban Women. Fidel established the FMC in 1960, one year after the Triumph of the Revolution, appointing Vilma Espin, noted revolutionary combatant, as its head. One of Cuba's most influential social change forces, their accomplishments include the literacy brigade which taught half of Cuba's population to read and write in one year by converting high school students into teachers and sending them out into the country side. The FMC was responsilbe for the elimination of gender inequality by training housewives and interjecting them into the workforce as equals. While Vilma Espin died in 2007, the FMC remains a force. Her husband is Raul Castro.