The Grand Lodge of Cuba, Havana.
Freemasonry in Cuba T
he Grand Lodge of Cuba (Gran Logia de Cuba) is regular, and recognised by the majority of mainstream grand lodges around the world. It occupies a curious position, as it is one of the few nations with a Marxist dictatorship where Freemasonry still flourishes. It is said that, during Cuba’s revolution, Fidel Castro took refuge in a Masonic lodge, and so has never shut down the
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fraternity there as other regimes have done. According to the 2019 List of Lodges-Masonic, the tiny island nation today has 322 lodges, with more than 25,108 members. Freemasonry first appeared in Cuba in 1763, and largely grew from English and Irish military lodges. When the English departed, French Masons arrived, fleeing the Haitian revolution in 1791. The first lodge actually founded in Cuba was the Temple of the Theological Virtues, chartered in 1804 by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana. The website of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancient and Accepted Masons of Cuba (Gran Logia de Cuba de Antiguos Libres y Aceptados Masones) 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. An article by 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. This organisation is a masonic entity that researches masonic symbolism, www.freemasonsnz.org
history, and jurisprudence. The website of the Grand Lodge of Free Ancient and Accepted Masons of Cuba lists 322 lodges across the country According to the Grand Lodge of Free Ancient and Accepted Masons of Cuba indicates membership in Cuban lodges decreased from 34,000 in 1959 to 19,582 in 1981, but that since 1982, it has kept increasing, reaching more than 25,108 members. More than a third of the masonic lodges and members are in Havana. According to the Grand Lodge of Free Ancient and Accepted Masons of Cuba, Freemasons supported the new government (1959) during the first years of the regime but, several high-ranking Freemasons left Cuba after the radicalisation of the government’s revolutionary process, including one member who eventually created the Grand Lodge of Cuba in Exile in the United States. After the revolution the lodges started to experience economic hardship which affected their budget and philanthropic initiatives. Even though Freemasonry is legal in Cuba, it is strictly surveyed by the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party of Cuba. According to Manuel Olmedo, President of the Federation
