Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07HAVANA610
2007-06-26 15:34:00
CONFIDENTIAL
US Interests Section Havana
Cable title:  

FERMENT IN CUBAN MASONIC MOVEMENT

Tags:  KDEM PHUM SOCI CU 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000610 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/26/2017
TAGS: KDEM PHUM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: FERMENT IN CUBAN MASONIC MOVEMENT

Classified By: COM Michael E. Parmly; Reasons 1.4 (b/d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000610

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/26/2017
TAGS: KDEM PHUM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: FERMENT IN CUBAN MASONIC MOVEMENT

Classified By: COM Michael E. Parmly; Reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) At the instigation of former Cuban Masonic Grand
Master Jose Manuel Collera Vento, the current Cuban Grand
Lodge issued a decree recently that dissolves the Masonic
Supreme Court, ostensibly for mishandling a misconduct case.
Members of at least one regular lodge have formally requested
that this decree be revoked, setting up a test of wills
between Collera Vento, probably a GOC pawn, and the rank and
file of the Masonic movement.

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BACKGROUND:
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2. (C) Jose Manuel Collera Vento is a high-ranking official
of the Cuban freemason movement and a former Grand Master.
The current Grand Master is Osmundo Cabrera Perez. The
movement nationwide has over 25,000 members and follows
"regular" Masonic traditions that unabashedly trace their
lineage to England and to American independence leaders.
Current Cuban lodges are named after Ben Franklin, George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln, for example. Cuba's own
independence leaders Jose Marti, Antonio Maceo and Calixto
Garcia were also freemasons. Masonic buildings and
activities are funded out of membership dues and assistance
from overseas. The main Masonic building in Central Havana,
which once was modern enough, in pre-Castro Cuba, to have IBM
as one of its tenants, has deteriorated terribly and
deliberately under the Castro dictatorship. Real estate
aside, however, as an organization, the freemasons still mean
something to key sectors of Cuban society.


3. (C) USINT-Officer, an honorary member of "Logia Habana,"
has seen considerable e-mail exchange on the subject of the
Supreme Court's dissolution, which a senior freemason
(Gustavo Pardo - please protect) told him reaches roughly 100
members nationwide with internet access. Pardo was confident
that the 100 on-line would get the word around to most of the
other 25,000, either by word of mouth or printouts and
circulation of hard-copies. According to Pardo and other
members of Logia Habana, the edict by the Grand Master was/is
unconstitutional, and violates the Masonic separation of
powers.


4. (C) Collera Vento, according to these same sources, is the
instigator of this conflict, and would benefit from it
personally if the Supreme Court's dissolution is upheld. One
of the cases to be dismissed by the Supreme court involves
his own misconduct, specifically, freelancing and mis-using
funds while traveling abroad on Masonic business. Some of
that travel was to the USA, where USINT believes Collera
Vento was seeking financial support under false pretenses,
while more likely acting under instructions from the Castro
regime to penetrate, weaken, and divide the Masonic movement.
When we learned about Collera Vento's activities, we
recommended that his more recent application for a visa be
denied.

--------------
Comment:
--------------


5. (C) It is possible that some of this conflict is a
consequence of the regime's and Collera Vento's pique over
the visa denial -- which proves that the denial was the right
decision. The next number of months, while this plays out,
will be important for Cuba's Masonic movement. Although,
like the Church, it is hobbled by regime restrictions,
surveillance, and penetration, it still provides something of
a neutral space to allow Cubans to participate in civil
society in a largely volunteerist and apolitical context.
There are no photographs of Fidel or Raul Castro inside the
Masonic temples, and inspirational quotes tend to come from
Jose Marti, or other non-communist figures, like Winston
Churchill, or Ben Franklin. The very debate inside the
Masonic movement regarding the Grand Master's abuse of
authority, and separation of powers, has obvious parallels to
Cuba as a whole, points that are not lost on the members,
even if they have to discuss them in code. For all these
reasons, USINT and Miami-based donors have supported the
freemason movement in the past and should continue to do so.
PARMLY