Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Freemasonry in Cuba: A brief video presentation

By no means an exhaustive documentary, this video presentation, made for Cuban television is a well shot, informative, and positive introduction to the subject of Masonic History in Cuba and the role that Cuban Freemasonry and Freemasons played in the fight for independence from Spain as well as its participation in Cuban society since that time. Replete with some excellent photographs and an energetic and engaging narrator, it is well worth watching.

If you cannot understand Spanish, it is still a visually rewarding film and worth your time. Find a friend who speaks the language and invite them over!

Historia de la Masonería en Cuba Pte. 1:



Historia de la Masonería en Cuba Pte. 2

6 comments:

Ian said...

For someone like me who doesn't have the best comprehension of spoken Spanish, do you have any recommendations on sources (articles, books, websites, etc.) for the history of Freemasonry in Cuba? I can muddle through written Spanish, if that makes a difference.

E C Ballard ஃ said...

There is not a great deal available in English, and to my knowledge nothing which will give you really current information, however, although limited, your curiosity may be served by this dated piece, written in 1967. I hope it is of interest.

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/freemasonry/History-Freemasonry-Cuba-Murphy.pdf

Ian said...

Thanks--this looks like a nice outline. Names, dates, places--all more than I knew about before.

E C Ballard ஃ said...

Admittedly, it leaves out the important information, such as "why." That being said, it does provide the when and whom.

Ian said...

I'm used to that--hopefully I'll circle out eventually to the broader world shaping this. That said, if you ever feel the urge to post about the why and for which of this, I'll be all ears (or, I guess, eyes in this case).

E C Ballard ஃ said...

Well, I am still researching this, among some other issues. What I understand to date is that in the case of Cerneau, he left Haiti for Cuba. At the time, the Spanish authorities had banned Freemasonry throughout their empire. More to the point, having recently come from the former Saint Domingue,now the newly independent ex-slave republic known as Haiti, the Spanish were extremely mistrusting. When a couple of the members of his new lodge were implicated in the Aponte uprising in Cuba, he was deported by the Spanish, who would have had little love of a French man anyway. There is, as far as I can tell, no indication that he was in any way involved in the plot or even aware of it. This too might explain the undisguised hatred that Pike demonstrated later toward the Cerneau Rite. After all, the "Good" Bro. Pike was a Rebel general.