Cuba: Freemasonry, including number of lodges, organizational structure, leadership and activities; requirements and procedures to join a lodge; relationship of lodge members with authorities (2000-July 2014)

1. Overview and Structure

The website of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba (Gran Logia de Cuba de Antiguos Libres (AL) y Aceptados Masones (AM)) [1] indicates that masons appeared in Cuba around the end of the 18th Century, and the first lodge, the Temple of Theological Virtues, was founded in 1804 (Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM n.d.a). In an article published by El Nuevo Herald, a Miami-based newspaper, Gustavo Pardo Valdés indicates that, according to Cuban masons, there are 316 lodges and 220 masonic temples in Cuba (24 May 2010). Gustavo Pardo Valdés was president of the Cuban Academy for Higher Masonic Studies (Academia Cubana de Altos Estudios Masónicos) from 2005 to 2011 (Martí Noticias 12 July 2012). This organization is a masonic entity that researches masonic symbolism, history, and jurisprudence (Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM n.d.b). The website of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba lists 318 lodges across the country (Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM n.d.c). The national directory of lodges by jurisdiction is attached to this Response (Attachment 1). The structure of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba (Attachment 2) and the committees of the cabinet of its Grand Master (Attachment 3) are attached to this Response.

The website of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba indicates that membership in Cuban lodges decreased from 34,000 in 1959 to 19,582 in 1981, but that since 1982, it has kept increasing, reaching [translation] "more than" 28,000 people (Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM n.d.d). According to a 2010 article in El Nuevo Herald, a study by Jorge Luis Romeu, an emeritus professor at State University of New York at Cortland, currently a research professor of Statistics at Syracuse University, who specializes, among other research fields, in masonic studies in Cuba (Romeu 11 July 2014), indicates that [translation] "more than a third" of the masonic lodges and members are in Havana (El Nuevo Herald 24 May 2010).

According to Pardo Valdés, other masonic organizations are present in Cuba: la Sociedad de Antiguos Honorables Compañeros Distintos [or Gran Logia de Cuba IOOF, a subgroup of the Sovereign Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) (IOOF n.d.)], which has 25,000 to 30,000 members, and the Order of the Knights of Light (Los Caballeros de la Luz), which has 25,000 members (El Nuevo Herald 24 May 2010). In a statistical and historical analysis of the development of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba from 1945 to 2010, submitted to the International Conference on American and Latin American Freemasons: A New Past and a New Future and provided to the Research Directorate, Romeu indicates that the number of members in the Order of the Knights of Light and in the Grand Logia de Cuba IOOF is "smaller" than that of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba, which has 30,000 members (Romeu 20 May 2013, 1-3). He adds that data from the two other lodges was not available to him (ibid., 3). Additional information about these two masonic organizations in Cuba could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Romeu's conference paper, which includes a demographic study on masons in Cuba, as well as information on their characteristics, membership, and relationship with Cuban society, is attached to this Response (Attachment 4).

2. Relationship with the Cuban Government

The website of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba indicates that masons supported the new government [1959] during [translation] "the first years" of the regime (Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM n.d.d). However, several high-ranking masons left Cuba after the [translation] "radicalization" of the government's revolutionary process, including one member who eventually created the Grand Lodge of Cuba in Exile in the United States (ibid.). The website also indicates that after the revolution the lodges started to experience economic [translation] "hardship," which affected their budget and philanthropic initiatives (ibid.).

El Nuevo Herald indicates that even though freemasonry is legal in Cuba, it is [translation] "strictly surveyed by the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party of Cuba" (El Nuevo Herald 24 May 2010). The article cites Manuel Olmedo, President of the Federation of Cuban Masons in Exile (Federación de Masones Cubanos en el Exilio "Cuba Primero"), as indicating that the government demands that lodges report their activities in detail, ask for permission before undertaking activities that are not part of their daily activities, and cancel the membership of masons who have emigrated (ibid.). Noticias Martí, a news portal based in the US, cites Pardo Valdés as indicating that organizations in Cuba, including masonic ones, are [translation] "profoundly penetrated" by state security officers (12 July 2012). Cubanet, an independent news source based in Cuba, reports that, according to masons in Cuba, the Register of Associations' Office (Registro de Asociaciones) of the Ministry of Justice proposed to the masonic authorities of the Solano Ramos Lodge to reinstate an officer of the political police, José Manuel Collera, former Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba, who had been expelled from the organization for [translation] "masonic crimes," including abuse of office, before it was revealed that he was a government spy (Cubanet 4 Apr. 2011). The Cubanet article also indicates that masonic authorities refused the request, explaining that Collera took more than 40 trips overseas with the resources that the Gran Logia de Cuba A.L. y A.M. had assigned to other activities (ibid.). According to masons from the Solano Ramos Lodge, this [translation] "state interference" made them feel "harassed" and "threatened with political accusations" (ibid.). Further information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to El Nuevo Herald, Pardo Valdés stated that, [translation] "even though regulations of masonic organizations in Cuba prohibit partisan activities, 13 out of the 75 dissidents jailed during the 2003 repression known as the Black Spring were masons" ( 24 May 2010). The Black Spring refers to the "crackdown" by the Cuban government on "dissidents" in the country in March 2003; 75 people were arrested, including independent journalists (CPJ 18 Mar. 2008; Freedom House 19 Mar. 2013), librarians and human rights defenders (ibid.). Further information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Note

[1] The Grand Lodge of Free Ancients and Accepted Masons of Cuba is a member of the Inter-American Masonic Confederation (Confederación Masónica Interamericana, CMI), the organization that groups [translation] "Regular Grand Lodges" in the American continent (CMI n.d.).

References

Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ). 18 March 2008. "La larga Primavera Negra de Cuba." [Accessed 11 July 2014]

Confederación Masónica Interamericana (CMI). N.d. "¿Qué es la CMI?" [Accessed 10 July 2014]

Cubanet. 4 April 2011. Jaime Leygonier. "Gobierno cubano presiona a Masones que acepten de nuevo agente 'Gerardo'." [Accessed 9 July 2014]

El Nuevo Herald. 24 May 2010. Juan O. Tamayo. "Crece militancia de masones en Cuba." [Accessed 9 July 2014]

Freedom House. 19 March 2013. "The Ten-year Anniversary of 'La Primavera Negra' in Cuba Serves as a Reminder of Continued Repression." [Accessed 11 July 2014]

Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM. N.d.a. "Primeras logias cubanas." [Accessed 9 July 2014]

_____. N.d.b. "Academia de Altos Estudios Masónicos." [Accessed 9 July 2014]

_____. N.d.c. "Directorio nacional de logias de la jurisdicción." [Accessed 9 July 2014]

_____. N.d.d. "Masonería y revolución." [Accessed 9 July 2014]

IOOF, The Sovereign Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows. N.d. "Cuba." [Accessed 10 July 2014]

Martí Noticias. 12 July 2012. "Gran Logia de Cuba, seguridad del Estado y manipulación: masones en la encrucijada." [Accessed 9 July 2014]

Romeu, Jorge Luis, State University of New York. 11 July 2014. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

_____. 20 May 2013. "Characteristics and Challenges of Cuban Freemasons in the XX Century: A Demographic Approach." Presented at the International Conference on American and Latin American Freemasons: A New Past and a New Future. Sent to the Research Directorate by the author, 11 July 2014.

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Attempts to contact representatives from the following organization were unsuccessful: Gran Logia de Cuba A.L. y A.M., Gran Logia de Cuba I.O.O.F., and independent researchers.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Australia - Migration Review Tribunal; Cartas desde Cuba; Conexión Cubana; Cuba - Consultoría Jurídica Internacional, Granma; Cuba Debate; Cuba Encuentro; Cubainformación; La Cubanada; ecoi.net; Havana; Human Rights Watch; Juventud Rebelde; Masonic Lodge Info; Newsweek; Radio Ciudad del Mar; Radio Martí; United Kingdom - Home Office; United Nations - Refworld, ReliefWeb; United States - Department of State; Univisión; Washington Office on Latin America.

Attachments

1. Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM. N.d. "Directorio Nacional de Logias de la Jurisdicción." (National Directory of Lodges by Jurisdiction). Translated by the Research Directorate. [Accessed 9 July 2014]

2. Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM. N.d. "Grandes Funcionarios." (Grand Lodge Officers). Translated by the Research Directorate. [Accessed 9 July 2014]

3. Gran Logia de Cuba de AL y AM. N.d. "Gabinete del Gran Maestro." (Cabinet of the Grand Master). Translated by the Research Directorate. [Accessed 9 July 2014]

4. Romeu, Jorge Luis. 20 May 2013. "Characteristics and Challenges of Cuban Freemasons in the Twentieth Century: A Demographic Approach." Revista de Estudios Históricos de la Masonería. [Accessed 16 July 2014]