-Caveat Lector- > http://www.nytimes.com/ads/Harrisdirect.html > > \----------------------------------------------------------/ > > > Masonic Rites, No Less. In Castro's Bailiwick! > > April 30, 2002 > > By DAVID GONZALEZ > > > > > HAVANA, April 25 - Cuba's capital has a sovereign grand > commander who wears a uniform, is privy to secrets and > partial to symbolism. But he is not Fidel Castro. > > His name is Jes�s Armada Pena, and he is a 33rd degree > Mason who presides over Cuba's Supreme Council at an > imposing, if age-worn, Scottish Rite Masonic temple in > central Havana. > > Long discouraged and distrusted by the authorities, Cuba's > Masons have seen their ranks more than double since the > 1980's, to 29,000 members in more than 316 lodges across > the island. Earlier this year, the Cuban government gave > permission for two new lodges, the first since 1967. > > Along with other fraternal or mystical groups, like the > Oddfellows and the Rosicrucians, the Masons have been > attracting men searching for more enduring answers than > those offered by Communism, the only system generations of > Cubans have ever known. > > Once shrouded in secrecy, the fraternal groups - which > exist in many countries and have origins as old as the > Crusades - shun specific religions and ideologies and say > their purpose is to foster brotherhood and search for > truth. > > The Masons, the largest of Cuba's brotherhoods, meet weekly > to celebrate rituals in rooms with flaked murals of the > heavens and tarnished swords on pedestals. They sit, > wearing threadbare ceremonial aprons, in high-backed wooden > chairs. > > Members visit the sick in hospitals and help out their > families. Mr. Armada's Masonic temple distributes medicine > and vitamins donated by lodges in the United States and > Europe. The brotherhoods are creating a mutual aid network > that seeks - very cautiously - to provide what Mr. Castro's > government does not or will not. > > "We have always existed in Cuba," Mr. Armada said. "But > after the revolution there was a decrease in membership. So > many left the country, while others thought the Masons no > longer had a reason for being because our principles and > foundation as an institution were overtaken by the > political process." > > He added: "Now we have found an echo among the young. They > are looking for answers to their worries, which the state > could not give them." > > What the state has long given the Masons is trouble, going > back to the rule of Spain in the 1800's. The first lodges > were founded by French settlers who fled the slave revolt > in Haiti. Cuba's Grand Lodge and the Supreme Council were > created in 1859, and attracted many men who would go on to > fight Spanish colonial rule. > > Pointing to a portrait on his office wall of Benito Ju�rez, > the Mason and Mexican hero, he said the fellowship has had > a strong appeal to nationalists. Even Jos� Mart�, the > fabled apostle of Cuba's fight against Spain, was said to > have been a Mason. > > "The Mason is imbued with the ideals of the French > Revolution, the American Revolution and the philosophical > currents of the time, like Rousseau," Mr. Armada said. > > But when the Communist revolution came to power in 1959, > the Masons' ideas were seen as a threat. Membership > plummeted from 39,000 in 1959 to 14,000 by 1980, as the > group was treated as a clandestine counterrevolutionary > sect. > > Recently the government has given a little more leeway, > even allowing some Masons to travel to conventions > overseas. Members are careful not to overstep their bounds, > and they give the government reports on their meetings. > > Lately they have been allowed to conduct wreath-laying > ceremonies in public parks. But they cannot hold street > processions with unfurled banners. > > "There is a great vacuum after the fall of the socialist > bloc did away with any hope for people to develop > themselves," said Ra�l Rivero, an independent Cuban > journalist. "So people sought refuge in those groups > looking for solidarity. For these fraternal groups the > loyalty is to the human being. For the government, > solidarity is conditioned on political principle." > > Officially, the government now says the Masons are linked > to some of the nobler moments of Cuba's past. Privately, > Masons complain that they are infiltrated with government > agents and sometimes receive veiled warnings about their > meetings with foreigners, including American diplomats. > > Those diplomats are watching the growth of the fraternal > orders with interest. > > "They loosen the bonds of the state by showing that > services and resources can be provided by people > themselves," said Vicky Huddleston, the head of the United > States Interests Section in Havana."For a Communist system, > that is a dangerous idea." > > Masons insisted that Cuban politics, like race, are not > discussed inside the temple's thick walls. But they say > their talks are free-ranging, covering everything from > democracy to the human genome project. > > The Masons do have their secrets, like the phrases and > signals they use to identify one another. But they openly > proclaim their principles - indoors. Inside the temple's > entrance is a huge framed copy of the Universal Declaration > of Human Rights. In recent years rights advocates who tried > to distribute the document in public suffered arrest, and > the issue is sensitive now after the United Nations voted > this month to criticize Cuba's rights record. > > "What are human rights in the context of a nation or a > person?" Mr. Armada mused. "Say I am a head of state and I > ruin the country. Thousands of people suffer the > consequences of my error. Have I gone against human > rights?" > > Then, with a smile, he added a quick coda: > > "That was > hypothetical." > Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
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