The role of Freemasonry in the independence of Latin American countries

The mystery surrounding Freemasonry fuels all kinds of conspiracy theories.

In the collective imagination, they are accused of controlling international power and finances, of promoting revolutions and of steering the helm of History.

Its hierarchical associative form, full of ancient and rigorous rituals, caused it to be banned by the Catholic Church, which still considers its doctrine irreconcilable with membership in a Masonic lodge.

Few institutions are so shrouded in mystery and have produced more myths.

One is that Freemasonry exerted a fundamental intellectual influence on the French Revolution and the wars of independence, bringing liberal and Enlightenment ideas to the emancipation of emerging nations, including the United States and Latin American countries.

Simón Bolívar, Francisco Miranda, Bernardo O'Higgins, José de San Martín… Legend attributes a Masonic affiliation to the liberators, and to Freemasonry in general, a fundamental role in the independence processes of Latin American countries.

But how much is legend, and how much is reality?

According to Chilean researcher Felipe del Solar, who has studied the subject in depth, there were Freemasons who fought for independence, and the lodges served as a model for the creation of secret societies that allowed Creole elites to unite in the colonies and face the crisis of the Spanish crown. But attributing the achievement of independence to Freemasonry, he argues, is "propaganda."

"During the centenaries of independence, Freemasonry appropriated the heroes and claimed that they were all Freemasons, but this is part of a mythology that Freemasonry itself created," the historian explains to BBC News Mundo, the BBC's Spanish-language news service.

In fact, the scholar claims, "the only documented case of a liberation hero who was a Freemason is that of Bolívar." But the documentary evidence also does not suggest that his involvement in Freemasonry went much beyond the initiation rite.

The first Masonic lodges to be founded in Central and South America were established in the Caribbean region in the mid-18th century.

At the time, the continent was part of several empires that were present there, such as the Spanish, French, British and Dutch. "At that time, it was mainly colonial Freemasonry, in which there was almost no presence of local members. It is an instrument of expansion of empires", explains Del Solar.

Freemasonry emerged in the European Middle Ages in the guilds of stonemasons. However, it was only in the 18th century that these fraternal associations established themselves in the modern conception that we know today, influenced by the thoughts of the Enlightenment, and with the aim of forming meeting points to discuss philosophical, religious and political ideas.

While in the British and French empires, Freemasonry was gaining strength and influence, with lodges thriving in their colonies, in Catholic Spain this institution had been banned since 1751, and was persecuted by the Inquisition.

"In the Hispanic world, Freemasonry was the new heresy of the 18th century, which was later assimilated by philosophers and the idea of ​​revolutionary France," observes Felipe del Solar, who focused his doctoral thesis on this topic.

According to the researcher, in those years the idea of ​​the "ghost of Freemasonry" emerged, a kind of specter that embodied the evils of the empire, despite the institution having almost no presence in Spain or its colonies.

More than a century later, dictator Francisco Franco still blamed an alleged "Judeo-Masonic communist conspiracy" for any misfortunes that befell Spain.

Thus, in the Spanish territories in America, the first lodges that were founded had a very short life.

The first for which there is documentary evidence is that of the "Three Theological Virtues", which was created in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, in 1808, but which was quickly discovered.

Its foundation coincides with the invasion of Spain by Napoleon's troops, when, under French influence, several stores began to appear on the peninsula, which the Creoles took to America.

About twenty of them were then founded in the metropolis, as well as several secret societies, such as the Society of Rational Knights in Cádiz, about which experts disagree as to whether it was really a Masonic lodge or a secret organization that used the formulas and rites of Freemasonry.

"This lodge turned to America, and founded a similar society in Mexico and another in Buenos Aires, which later received the name Lautaro Lodge," explains Felipe del Solar.

The Lautaro Store

The Lautaro Lodge, named after a Mapuche leader and with several branches, including one in Santiago, Chile, was a secret society that allowed the opposition to organize with a clearly pro-independence goal. José de San Martín, the general and politician who led the independence of Argentina and Chile, and Bernardo O'Higgins, known as one of the Chilean "fathers of the homeland", belonged to it.

According to Chilean-Israeli academic and Freemason León Zeldis, there is no documentary evidence that San Martín or O'Higgins were Freemasons, as he explains in his article "The Contribution of Freemasonry to South American Independence: A Fact-Based Approach."

The same libertarian, fraternal and egalitarian spirit that contributed to the development of Masonic lodges and gave them a philanthropic basis "also influenced the leaders of the independence movements in South America, without necessarily implying that they were members of Masonic organizations," he explains.

The aim of the Lautaro Lodge "was not to establish a great republic in Spanish America — but rather several constitutional monarchies with princes from the main European dynasties," argues researcher Emilio Ocampo of the University of Buenos Aires in an article on the role of Freemasonry in the independence process.

As with the Society of Rational Gentlemen, researchers differ on whether this lodge, which used symbols and rituals borrowed from Freemasonry, and had Freemasons among its members, was Masonic or not.

For Felipe del Solar, "they were, in fact, secret societies to which Freemasonry had given an associative model that was reproduced in different ways in different latitudes." These groups could have become Masonic lodges in their own right, "but it was not the time for Freemasonry to become institutionalized in Latin America because it had a very bad reputation," according to the historian.

These secret societies became the prelude to political parties in this context of disintegration of the old regime. They served to unite factions seeking to seize power and promote reforms.

Interestingly, it was the anti-Masonic propaganda of the Spanish Empire and the books written to denounce the rites and forms of organization of Freemasonry and prevent its spread that provided the Creoles with a model for the creation of secret societies in which the seeds of independence were planted.

“Independence cannot be explained by these groups,” Del Solar says, “but they help make it irreversible.” For example, in the United Provinces of Buenos Aires, what we now know as Argentina, “the Lautaro Lodge was in power at a time of change, and it made those changes irreversible,” the expert says.

It took at least 30 years for true Masonic lodges to become institutionalized in Latin America, as it was only in the mid-19th century that Freemasonry was founded, and became an important political power with the arrival of liberal governments on the continent.

This happens, for example, in Mexico, where several lodges were created after independence, and where there were many Masonic presidents.

Benito Juárez, for example, was a Freemason. He "was the first to draft secular laws in a predominantly Catholic country, which are a model for secular laws throughout the world," explains Felipe del Solar.

In Cuba, although some lodges were initially formed "with a rather colonial, rather than revolutionary, Freemasonry", it was only at the end of the 19th century that the institution gained weight and supported the island's independence.

Bolivar, freemason

Most of the liberators spent part of their lives in Europe and the United States, where they were immersed in the philosophical and political ideas of the time.

In many Latin American countries, the idea persists that a large number of these independence fighters joined Masonic lodges.

Francisco de Miranda, for example, is credited with introducing other Latin American patriots to Freemasonry in London, where he lived for 13 years and created the revolutionary society "Gran Reunión Americana".

But, according to León Zeldis, "the weight of the evidence shows that Miranda was not a Freemason, so the society he founded was not a Masonic lodge."

According to Felipe del Solar, there is only documentary evidence of two of the liberators: Simón Bolívar and the Chilean leader José Miguel Carrera.

Bolívar was initiated into the Lodge of San Alejandro de Escocia in Paris "on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the Masonic year 5805, which corresponds to January 11, 1806", according to León Zeldis.

The document that attests to this is kept in the archives of the Lodge of the Supreme Council of Venezuela of the 33rd Degree.

"Bolívar's Masonic credentials are unquestionable," Zeldis notes. However, he adds, "it appears that Freemasonry played no role in his writings or activities."

There is no evidence, for example, that he joined any of the 30 lodges that existed in Venezuela, Gran Colombia and Ecuador.

Furthermore, Bolívar went so far as to ban all secret societies, including Freemasonry, in 1928, when he discovered a conspiracy against him.

But was Freemasonry an important influence on his life, ideas and actions? The most likely answer, according to Del Solar, is no.

José Miguel Carrera was initiated into Lodge No. 1 in Saint John, New York, "where he met important arms dealers and merchants and, thanks to the contacts he made in these lodges, he acquired weapons, two frigates with military personnel, and went to South America to bring independence," explains the Chilean researcher.

Freemasonry opened these doors for him, but the merchants did not help Carrera because he was a Freemason, "but because they saw his campaign as good business," argues Del Solar.

Today, it is estimated that there are around 350,000 Freemasons in South and Central America, with a very relative level of influence for each country.

In Chile, for example, between the 1940s and 1960s, four of the country's five presidents were Freemasons, as were more than half of the parliament, judges and police officers, recalls Felipe del Solar. "It was an impressive power."