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FFFFRRRREEEEEEEEMMMMAAAASSSSOOOONNNNRRRRYYYY :FRATERNALISM ANDFRATRICIDE DURING THEPRESIDENCY OF LAZAROCARDENAS

Paul RichUniversity of the Americas, Pueblarich@hoover .stanford.edu

Guillermo De Los ReyesUniversity of Pennsylvania

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When discussion of popular mobilization in Mexico is on the

agenda, as it is in this afternoon`s panel, surely one Mexican leader in

particular comes immediately to mind. The President of Mexico during

the 1930s, Lázaro Cárdenas, remains in many ways, and despite the

passage of time, the incarnation of Mexican political populism.

He is not only still, after sixty or more years, a popular political

hero, but is venerated by Mexican Freemasons, who often compare him

with Franklin Roosevelt, also a Freemason. Lodges are named after him,

and, as will be seen, he is even credited with the establishment of an

entire Masonic rite. A reappraisal of his lodge career is a good

illustration of how the complex Masonic history of the country can

illuminate more general historical problems, for his involvement with

Freemasonry tends to confirm views that his career had mixed and

perhaps sometimes even cynical motivations as he sought to “refigure”

Mexican society.1

The Masonic episode during his presidency demonstrates how he

had his "finger in every pot". Moreover, as the Mexican historian

Enrique Krauze remarks, his Masonic activities are evidence for the

argument that he was often governed by expediency as well as by

altruism, and that when all is said and done, "constitutional division of

powers at any level were not important to him."2 The Masonic activities

of the period are also an illustration of the remark of Joel Migdal that, "In

Mexico, the effort to control threatening social organizations has taken

some unusual twists and turns. Leaders have not so much incorporated

such potential power centers into state agencies as they have into the

dominant political party, the PRI. "3

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Nevertheless, we are not embarked on a debunking expedition

today and we fully acknowledge that he is one of the most noteworthy

and impressive Latin American political figures of this century. "No

historian," writes Professor Alan Knight, "questions the importance of

Cardenismo, but many disagree as to its character."4 Professor Knight

anticipates in a more general way conclusions we will make about the

alleged Cardinista Rite when he remarks that, "Cardenismo was a much

weaker vehicle for change than either supporters or opponents claimed.

This not to say, of course, that its reformist record was negligible...But

the eventual outcome of these policies departed from the goals that

Cardenista policymakers pursue...The institutional shell of Cardenismo

remained, but its internal dynamic was lost. In other words, the jalopy

was hijacked by new drivers: they returned the engine, took on new

passengers, and then drove it in a quite different direction."5

The Cárdenas administration was acclaimed in some quarters as a

working men´s popular revolution and is recalled for its links with

organized labor.6 But Cárdenas´ alleged manipulation of populism,

particularly when it involved the labor unions, should be kept in mind as

the discussion proceeds.7

Cárdenas was not only a Mason but it is claimed that he produced

what has been called a Masonic rite for the common man. As understood in

Freemasonry, a rite is a collection of degrees. It is not just one evening´s

ceremonies, but a succession of ceremonials. The best example is the

Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, which has had a long existence in

Mexico and its thirty-three degrees.8 Considering his colossal energy. the

idea that Cárdenas created a Masonic rite is on the face of it not

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implausible. Indeed, research into this supposed Cardenista Rite responds

to Henri Lefebvre's call to successfully investigate a country's history by

probing its “its underground life”.9 In Mexico, the power of Freemasonry

supports a thesis that diversity achieved through subcultures is

psychologically essential.10 Its study provides a comment on the reality as

opposed to the mythology of long-term consequences of the Cárdenas'

regime for the Mexican working class.11

Chasing Down Claims

This claim about Lázaro Cárdenas producing a popular rite surfaces

frequently enough to justify this detailed discussion. The problem is that

one authority has quoted another authority in succession without

question. For example, Professor Peter Calvert considers still another

scholar of Mexican political history (Brandenburg) when he writes:

To the generally known facts about the role of Masonry in the civilstrife in Mexico in the two decades after independence, Brandenburg hasadded a great deal of detail about subsequent developments whichsuggest that it enjoyed considerable importance again in the 1930s. PortesGil, Ortiz Rubio, Rodríguez, and Cárdenas were all Masons -- the last thegrand master between 1929 and 1931 of the Mexican IndependentSymbolical Grand Lodge (founded 1927) which under his Presidencybecame an important bond between government officials and local leadersup and down the country. The importance of this is twofold. It confirmsthe active role of Masonry as a political force in Mexico throughout thenineteenth century and even down to our own time. But it also illuminatesthe struggles of interpretation of the direction of the Revolution; foreigninfluence remained strong in many lodges into the 1920s and its removalwas one of the chief causes behind the formation of the Cárdenas Rite.12

Some authorities give Lázaro Cárdenas credit with founding the

Mexican National Rite (Bénemerito Rito Nacional Mexicano), a movement

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still widespread in Mexico and working some 50 or more degrees.

Actually the original, as opposed to the current, Mexican National Rite

arose about 1830, established to reconcile Masonic factions that

confronted each other during the War for Independence fought against

Spain. This nationalistic branch of Masonry or perhaps more accurately, its

successor, remains active in Mexico.13 Regardless of its origins, it long

predates his Masonic activity and it is clearly not the same as the supposed

rite launched by him14

Proving a negative is difficult, but we have looked now for some

years but in vain for the separate popular Masonic rite that would

support claims about the president as a popularizer. Brother Jesús

Fraustro, who at the age of 97 is considered the oldest living or at least

the oldest living active Freemason in Mexico, and who knew Cárdenas as

a brother Mason, responds:

As an example, I'm going to take my name, Jesús Fraustro. Everything Ihave done in my life, more than seventy years in Freemasonry, shouldn'tbe called Fraustro Freemasonry! There is no Cardenista Rite, but theCardenistas were part of Masonic groups. The Cardenista Rite ideastarted with General Cárdenas and General Damián Rodríguez whichwere pretty close friends. General Rodríguez was a Great Luminar of theMexican Masonic Rite. It can be said that because of them Freemasonrygot very popular...at least for me all groups that were built in the times of

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General Damián were Cardinista groups…People had a high esteem forGeneral Cárdenas. I am one of them. Through General Pedro V.Rodriques Trianas who was a close friend of Cárdenas, I talked toGeneral Cárdenas in San Pedro de las Colonia in which Trianna wasgovernor. Cárdenas came to congratulate Trianna every year in hisanniversary. In that way I got to know Cárdenas pretty well...TheCardenista groups that were organized in most every state of the republic(eventually) joined the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry or the one that wasthe most powerful according to the state.15

A supposed exception to Mexican Masonry's urban and elitist

flavor is this alleged effort of Cárdenas to establish a new Masonic rite

during his presidency.16 There is of course no doubt that he was keenly

interested in the social development of the laboring and agrarian sectors

where associations were few and weak. If he extended Masonry amongst

the lower classes to empower them, he would have been well ahead of his

time in understanding the significance of NGOs (Non-governmental

Organizations) to democratization. Moreover, a separate rite for the

working man would be unique as Masonry has traditionally been a largely

middle and upper class movement, leaving the working class to such

movements as the Odd Fellows, Hibernians, and Pythians.

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The rationale for extending Mexican Masonry to the workers was

partly based on the way in which Masonry was a formal finishing school

in oratory and leadership for some Mexican politicians. There were no

management courses in rural Mexico, which lacked even rudimentary

educational facilities. A young man could acquire a polish and oratorical

expertise in the lodge. (Samuel Gompers noted this in his own

autobiographical account of Masonic involvement.)

Given that, Cárdenas´ interest in the organizational

possibilities of Masonry is unsurprising. The link that Masonic

membership provides with Mexican history is very real, starting

with Miguel Hidalgo, very symbolically both Catholic priest and

Freemason, and who invoked Masonic themes when he led the first

Mexican revolt against Spain in 1810. But altruism has seldom been

an unmodified presidential virtue in Mexico.

The problem then is whether Masonry is another example of

Cárdenas establishing organizations or refurbishing old

organizations which would serve him, as was the case with such

movements as the Unión General de Obreros y Campesions,

National Committee of Proletarian Defense, and Confederación de

Trabajadores de México.17 Writes a doubtful Víctor Alba, "Cárdenas

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regarded his instruments of support as exactly what they were --

instruments."18

The Appeal of Freemasonry

There is a strong case made that Cárdenas was obliged to

take an interest in Freemasonry whether he wished to do so or not

if he was to conciliate the religious and anti-religious factions that

had caused so much trouble in the immediate past. At a Masonic

banquet in 1919, the then President of Mexico, Portes Gil, told his

brothers, "In Mexico, the state and masonry in late years have been

one and the same thing: two entities who go forward prepared, for

the men who have held political power in late years have known

how to fortify themselves with the revolutionary principles of

masonry."19 During the 1920s and 1930s, the conflicts between

Freemasonry and the Church were complicated by the Cristero’s

movement. Masonry had been vigorously involved in the conflict. 20

A letter sent by Leopoldo Ruíz y Flores, Delegado Apostólico, on

December 12, 1926 to the Episcopado, the clergy, and the general

Catholic population, warns that Catholics were forbidden to join

Freemasonry, which “besides being a secret society, confounded,

prohibited by the Church, is the cause of our persecution and almost

all our national misfortunes.”21 With some justification, Masonry

along with Protestants and gringos had become a stalking horse for

the conservatives.22

Many “regular” Masons were upset because of the political role

that the existing organizations began to take even before the advent

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of the Cárdenas regime, and also because what they considered to

be the growing political influence of the numerous irregular Grand

Lodges were being created. Zalce y Rodríguez points out that there

was “anarchy among the practitioners of the symbolism.” (Perhaps

we do need in English the word semiomachy.) He suggests this was

caused by the selfish political interests of Masons who were

supportive of the politics of President Calles and that both regular

and irregular Masons took parts in parades supporting Calles'

religious policy.23

Here therefore was the sort of loose Masonic cannon on the

political deck which a new president could scarcely afford. In

Veracruz, Masonic matters were particularly unsettled. One of the

most significant Grand Lodges of the era was the R. Gr. Log. Gran

Logia “Unida Mexicana” of Veracruz. This Grand Lodge is the

antecedent of the “Gran Logia Simbólica Independiente Mexicana”

that was supported by Cárdenas and which appears to have given

rise to the story that he created a Masonic rite for the masses.

During the 1920s the Grand Logia “Unida Mexicana” of

Veracruz lost its reputation for regularity because of the actions of

some of its members. Celestino Vázquez complained in 1927,

“Nowadays, the State of Veracruz is in chaos, as far as Masonry is

concerned.” This was because of the divisions within the Grand

Lodge 'Unida Mexicana' of Veracruz. The territorial jurisdiction of

the Grand Lodge became divided into two groups: the Grand

Orient of the Port of Veracruz and the Grand Orient of Jalapa, and

“There is not a respectable entity that can impose its own truly

Masonic force and work and unite them.”24

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A meeting was held in which the Masons, especially Celestino

Vázquez, decided to considered vacant of Masonic authority the

state of Veracruz, and create a new Grand Lodge with a well-

defined program functioning totally apart from the Grand Lodges

of Veracruz and Jalapa. Despite the Masonic penchant for secrecy,

the discussion was printed in a Folleto Histórico, and also as part of

the preamble in the so-called Santa Lucrecia Compact of February

27, 1927. The brothers elected on the town of Puerto México as

their seat and gave the body the new name of “Gran Logia

Simbólica Independiente Mexicana”.25

Brethren in Disarray

After its creation, the Gran Logia Simbólica Independiente

Mexicana announced in a manifesto issued in Puerto México on

March 1, 1927 that it did not recognize as Masonic the Gran Logia

Unida Mexicana of Veracruz (the port rather than the state) and

that the lack of Masonic authority in the state gave the dissenting

brethren the right to become a Cuerpo Soberano (independent

body).26

The reaction of the Gran Logia Unida was to organize a

campaign to prevent other "regular" grand lodges in Mexico from

recognizing the new Gran Logia Simbólica Independiente Mexicana,

The Grand Lodge Unida tried to re-establish ties with the “Valle de

Mexico” Grand Lodge and the Grand Lodge Unida of Jalapa. This

failed and there was a crisis in Mexican Masonry from 1926 to 1930

as competing bodies warred.27

The Gran Logia Simbólica Independiente Mexicana was from

its inception politically active. Zalce claims that it was “susceptible to

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giving advantages to some masons that through this Institution,

always have expected an easy benefit within 28the bureaucratic

organisms”. The so-called regular grand lodges of Mexico also were

interested in having political influence.29 Presidents Emilio Portes Gil

and Pascual Ortiz Rubio were both active Masons, so during their

regimes there was a considerable increase in membership, and

especially in the Masonic activities of those interested in politics. All

of this, as we suggest, argues that regardless of his attitude

towards Masonry, Cárdenas could not avoid coming to terms with

it. It was simply too much of a political force to ignore. Moreover,

the is no reason to doubt that he was possibly a believing rather

than solely opportunist Mason. He after all had been a member

long before he was president.30

But he did not invent a popular rite. What he did by his

support of Masonry was in our judgement not to create or reform a

fully-blown rite, but, as he rose to power, to favor a variety of

Masonic splinter groups that became enthusiastic promoters of his

political causes and were willing to heap dignities upon him.. There is

then no proof that he created a “El Gran Rito Nacional”. The

somewhat more valid claim that he “Mexicanized” Freemasonry has

led to the confusion about his connection with the Rito Nacional

Mexicano nd to the general spurious claim that there is a rite devised

by him.31Moreover, much of what happened Masonically during his

presidency was beyond his control. The support that Cárdenas gave

to Masonry, and especially to the “Gran Logia Simbólica

Independiente Mexicana” of which he became Grand Master during

his presidency, encouraged without his direct involvement the

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creation of many irregular lodges. There were hundred of lodges

during the 1930s called “Logias Cárdenas”. Most of them were

irregular and banded into irregular grand lodges, some of which are

still in existence.

The Grand Master of the important Grand Lodge of Valle de

Mexico, Lic. Calixto Maldonado, who was ecumenically sympathetic

with everything that was related to Masonry, did not care if was

regular or irregular. This naturally benefited the Independent Grand

Lodge and its offspring: “The benevolence of Maldonado to the

Gran Logia Independiente Mexicana did not need a reason ...

(Suffice to note that) ...it was public that Mr. General Cárdenas —at

least that was what people said— was very interested in the

progress and extension of it as supporting his personal hopes to

consolidate a strong nationalism, and under the impression that the

Scottish Rite ‘Antiguo y Aceptado’ was controlled by foreigners...”32

During the late 1930s the “Gran Logia Simbólica Independiente

Mexicana”, in which Cárdenas took such an interest, introduced

many lodges in different cities. In fact, the Gran Logia Valle de

México lost some members to it who were attracted by its political

activities. Government ministries such as the “Secretaría de

Hacienda”, the “Secretaría de Agricultura” and the “Departamento

Agrario” supported lodges during the Cárdenas administration.

Elements in these ministries created at least two large and politically

lodges: “Tierra y Libertad” and “Unificación Campesina”, in Mexico

City and in Tlanepantla, respectively.33

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The Simbólica Independiente also promoted the creation of

still another Grand Lodge, the so-called “Simbólica e Independiente

Tierra y Libertad”, thus employing a good agrarian reform slogan.

This Grand Lodge was popularly known simply as “Tierra y

Libertad Estatal” and, as Zalce emphasizes: “There is not a better

proof to demonstrate that this 'Gran Logia' was in politics than the

energetic activities of Mr. General President of the Republic, supreme

chief of the bureaucrat masons of Hacienda, Agricultura and

Departamento Agrario.”34

Campesino Masons

The purpose of Tierra y Libertad was indeed to initiate the

campesino or peasant farmer into Masonic rituals and wisdom, and

this is perhaps as close as the Cárdenas government came to having

a truly distinctive working class Masonry, a Masonry for the

laboring man. In Zalce’s opinion, and he was a devoted Mason,

while this idea of extending Masonry to the workers was laudable,

the mistake of the Cárdenas Masonic movement was to try to

“propagate the moral principals and fundamental ideas of the

initiation, through the 'Tierra y Libertad' lodges, imposing rituals

that are a copy of liturgies used by the Latin-speaking lodges, very

deficient liturgies and misinterpreted."35

The campesinos and factory workers in his opinion were not

prepared to understand sophisticated Masonic philosophy -- but he

was willing to grudgingly admit that had they been able to do so,

the teaching about brotherly love and friendship probably would not

have done any harm. In fact, in 1936, Wilfrid Parsons, himself a

Jesuit priest, after observing the Cárdenas regime's Masonic efforts

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wrote that the Masons were the more decent amongst the

presidential supporters:

Was then, the Revolution merely money-grubbing hypocrisy? No. Therewas always among the followers of Calles what may be called an idealisticwing which really believed the doctrines that it preached This wing wasand is powerful and vocal. It is now solidly behind Cárdenas. It has aheritage of radicalism that goes back to 1820. It centers in the politicalMasonic lodges which have affiliations with the Grand Orient of France.36

This activity did not go unnoticed in the United States, where the

Masonic activities of Cárdenas were viewed with dismay by a number of

influential Masons. In 1938, a correspondent of the senior Scottish Rite

Mason in Texas wrote to him from Mexico City that, "As you are

undoubtedly aware, there have been clandestine or irregular bodies of

spontaneous origin or create by dissenting elements." He pointed out that

American Masons had not recognized them and that, "one of these

irregular Grand Lodges was organized by General Cárdenas, now

President of the Republic, when he was governor of one of our states.

One of the most important principles proclaimed by this so-called Grand

Lodge was that Masonry should be exclusively for this country. Since

Cárdenas' incumbency as President of Mexico, the lodges under the

jurisdiction of his special Grand Lodges became important entities as

bureaucratic and political factors, and to such an extent did the number of

lodges increase throughout the country that our regular grand lodges

were effected by the pressure."37

Freemasonry has continued to be an influence in Mexico,38 but

Cardenista Masonry has faded away and does not seem to have retained

much importance, -- for that matter it is now debated whether

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Cardenismo itself as a populist political movement ever had quite the

immense influence sometimes attributed to it.39 The Masonic episode does

point to the way in which Cárdenas attempted to co-opt groups that

could have been disruptive. Judith Hellman remarks that "Cárdenas was in

no position to give real power to the working class", and that his

involvement with Masonry substantiates the notion that there was more

of smoke and mirrors to his career than sometimes has been

acknowledged.40

The effort to extend Masonry to a rural society which had not,

generally, participated in the movement was a nonstarter. In the United

States, in contrast, Masonry has been a rural force and in addition there

have been a number of national secret ritualistic movements which were

specifically oriented to small town and rural areas.41 The Grange for

example is a ritualistic secret society reminiscent of the Freemasons but

with a particular rural and working class focus. It at one time was almost

impossible to find even a hamlet of a few hundred people without its

Grange hall.42

As we have remarked, Mexican Masonry was a urban and middle

and upper class movement that found favor in those sectors of the

population.43 There were and are a large variety of Masonic groups in

Mexico, but none of them have activities which could be described as

attractive to the working class.44

This is not to claim that Freemasonry was totally absent from rural

Mexico.45 It did and does exist in small towns, usually working the first

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three degrees, and the rural varieties of it are an excellent example of why

regional and state studies are extremely valuable.46 The study of

Masonry's local varieties is useful in understanding the development of

civil society in Mexico, but the notion that the lodges could draw in the

workers was a non-starter.47 Mexican Masonry at the time of the General

was not egalitarian48, and, although the lodges espoused lofty goals they

were a poor choice for bringing civic education to laborers and peasants.

That continues to be the case.49

End of the Game

In 1938, when conservative forces settled on Manuel Avila Camacho

as a presidential candidate,50 the Gran Comité Nacional Masónico Pro-

Avila Camacho had as its presidents Maximino Avila Camacho and

Valenzuela Yocupicio. Thus at least some of his fellow Masons helped to

dismantle Cárdenas' reforms. Today there are lodges and grand lodges

still proclaiming themselves as Cardenista, but they are minor players in

the complex world of Mexican Masonry. 51

Cárdenas himself continued to play a part in Masonry, perhaps

finding some solace in it while he moved into the shadows of Mexican

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politics. He became Grand Master of the Independent Grand Lodge of

the Valley of Mexico, which allegedly dated to 1878, and merged that

grand lodge with the larger Grand Lodge of the Valley of Mexico in 1944.

The resulting body to this day is one of the powerful Mexican Masonic

organizations52 although it split again, in the 1960s. Today in Mexico City

there are two headquarters within a few city blocks of each other claiming

to be the Grand Valley, the larger being on Col. San Rafael and the other

being on Edison Street. The "Edison Masons" claim to be the true heirs of

Cárdenas and are contemptuous of the PRI connections of the San Rafael

Masons.53

It seems that when a lodge today in Mexico claims to be Cardenista,

it is making a statement about its politics and not about its ritual. There is a

certain amount of skepticism about the Cardenista period, with a few

arguing it was all a "an immense hoax played on workers and peasants".54

A question is whether Masonry was part of the hoax. By his involvement

in Freemasonry, Cárdenas associated himself with a long and helpful

tradition,55 but what in Mexico remains a controversial one. Many

Mexicans would not accept the statement that "Yet nowhere, through

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revolution and inquisition, war and invasion, has Free Masonry had a

greater positive impact than on Mexico and its people."56

Many lodges throughout Mexico display a picture or bust of Brother

Cárdenas .57 His image amongst the Masons is as generous as that held

of him by the Mexican labor movement: "Cárdenas is styled as something

of a latter-day Jesus, a redeemer who traveled from village to village

performing wonders."58 There was an appearance of great activity but

one has to ask what the ultimate results were, and might venture that his

real epitaph is as a compromiser who sought to finally achieve order, --

but in the Masonic case actually created disorder.59

Coincidentally on the same flight from Mexico City to Monterrey

with the late President´s son and political heir, Rich asked Cuauhtémoc

Cárdenas (a candidate for the Mexican presidency in 2000) if he was a

Mason like his father. "No," he replied, "Weren't they a group that had

once had high principles and became confused?" It seemed impolite to

reply that possibly Lázaro Cárdenas had something to do with the

confusion.60

1 "When Cárdenas took over in 1934, he found that the PNR reflected Calles'personal power and lacked an internal structure capable of organizing the

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country's political forces along essentially corporativist lines. After creating theCNC peasant group and encouraging the emergence of the CTM over otherlabor organizations, he therefore sponsored the formation of a civil servants'union that could dominate a new white-color National Confederation of PopularOrganizations (CNOP). Finally, anxious to limit the political ambitions of therevolutionary generals but unable to eliminate their influence entirely, Cárdenasformed a military sector. Thus, organized into four groups -- labor, peasant,popular, and military -- and guided by a National Executive Committee and aPresident named by Cárdenas himself, the party was ready to become amachine." Alan Riding, Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans, VintageBooks, New York, 1989 (1984), 55.

2. Enrique Krauze, Mexico: Biography of Power, HarperCollins, 1997, 447. Krauze isgenerous in his description of Cárdenas, his ceaseless touring of the countrysideto bring hope to the campisinos, his own adoption of no less than eighteenchildren, and his enormous compassion. But his presidency built the moderncorporate state, and reduced the other branches of government to ciphers. ibid.,459. Even the heralded agrarian reforms further increased the power of the state,which was the real owner. ibid., 463.

3 . Joel S. Migdal, Strong Societies and Weak States: State−SocietyRelations and State Capabilities in the Third World, Princeton UniversityPress,, 1988, 232.

4. Alan Knight, "The Rise and Fall of Cardenismo", Leslie Bethell ed., Mexico SinceIndependence, Cambridge University Press, 1991, 245.

5. Alan Knight, "Cardenismo; Juggernaut or Jalopy?", Working Papersof the Mexican Center, Institute of Latin American Studies, Universityof Texas at Austin, Paper No.90-09, 28.

6. William R. Denslow, 10,000 Famous Freemasons, Vol.II, Macoy Publishing,Richmond )Virginia), 1958, 124-125.

7. For the concept of urban hierarchy see John Rennie Short, The Urban Order: AnIntroduction to Cities, Culture, and Power, Blackwell, Oxford, 1997, 36 ff.

8. "A rite in the extended, modern sense is a collection of degreeswhich are and, for a considerable time, have been customarilyconsidered as a group or unit, either because of having a commongovernment or being associated in a succession or schedule ofworking." Henry Wilson Coil, Coil´s Masonic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.,Macoy Publishing, Richmond (Virginia), 1996, 526.

9. Henri Lefebvre, Writings on Cities, Elenore Kofman and Elizabeth Lebas eds.,Blackwell, Oxford, 1996, 113.

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10. Kevin J. Christiano, Religious Diversity and Social Change: American Cities, 1890-1906, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 1987, 70. Cf. PaulRich, "Kim and the Magic House", Marie Mulvey Roberts and Hugh Ornsby-Lennon eds., AMS Press, New York, 1995, 322-338.

11. “Urban ideologies are tied to broader social considerations; they areembedded in particular histories and specific geographies.” Short, 422.

12. Peter Calvert, Mexico, Praeger Publishers, New York and Washington, 1973,232.

13. See Henry Wilson Coil, et al., Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia, rev. ed, 1996 (1961),419.

14. Victoriano Anguiano Equihua, Lázaro Cárdenas, Editorial Eréndira,México D.F., 1951, 52.

15. Interview, Yasir Rámirez with Jesús Fraustro, 21 August 1998.

16. A rite in Masonry generally includes a number of degrees, or plays, in whichthe initiate takes part. It certainly is not used as a term for a few cosmetic changesin the first three of "blue lodge" degrees, such as the use of the MexicanConstitution instead of a Bible for the swearing of the initiate.

17. Victor Alba, The Mexicans: The Making of a Nation, Frederick A. Praeger, NewYork, 1967, 179-181. Cf. Knight, "The Rise and Fall of Cardenismo", 252, 277.

18. Alba, 182.

19. Qtd. Joseph H. L. Schlarman, Mexico: A Land of Volcanoes, Bruce PublishingCompany, Milwaukee, 1951, 526-527.

20. E.g. see David C. Bailey, ¡Via Cristo Rey!: The Cristero Rebellion and the ChurchState Conflict in Mexico, University of Texas Press, Austin and London, 974, passim.

21 Salvador Abascal, Lázaro Cárdenas: Presidente Comunista,, Tomo 2, EditorialTradición, Mexico, 1988, 227.

22. Alan Knight, "Weapons and Arches", Gilbert M. Joseph and Daniel Nugenteds., Everyday Forms of State Formation: Revolution and the Negotiation of Rule inModern Mexico, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 1994, 61.

23. Luis Zalce y Rodríguez, Apuntes para la Historia de la Masonería Mexicana, Tomo2, Mexico 1950, 92-95.

24. qtd. ibid, 95-96.

25 Ibid. 96-97.

21

21

26 . The Gran Logia Simbólica Independiente Mexicana was constituted by 13 lodges.ibid, 101.

27. See Zalce, 102-115.

28

29 . Ibid, 115.

30 . His initiation and lodge are disputed. One source claims that he was amember of the “Logia Unida Mexicana”. See citation of Martaelena NegreteSalas, El Nacional,, IV-14-1937, 426 in Ibid, 298.

31. Cf. Enrique Krauze, Biografia del Poder: Caudillos de la Revolución Mexicana(1910-1940), Tusquets editores, Mexico, 1997, 415; Remberto Hernández Padilla,Historia Política Mexicana,, EDAMEX, Mexico 1995, 128.

32Zalce, 147.

33 Ibid.

34 Ibid., 148.

35 Ibid., 151.

36. Wilfrid Parsons, Mexican Martyrdom, Macmillan, New York, 1936, 292.

37. G.P. Garcia to Walter C. Temple (Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Texas),Mexico City, 10 October 1938,. Supreme Council File for Supreme Council, 33rdDegree, Mexico, Correspondence, 1936, Scottish Rite Supreme Council,Washington D.C.

38. Cockcroft claims that in 1981, 26 of 31 state governors and 8 Federal Cabinetmembers were Masons. James D. Cockcroft, Mexico: Class Formation, CapitalAccumulation, and the State, Monthly Review Press, New York, rev. ed., 1990(1983), 326, fn.22.

39. "Many believed that Cárdenas after 1937 did what was necessary to save therevolution by making concessions to more conservative domestic and foreigninterests. Others believed that his action 'was not saving the life of the Revolution,it was merely preserving its corpse.' This judgement is to harsh. The dominantgroups might still exploit the masses but not with impunity." William H. Beezleyand Colin M. MacLachan, El Gran Pueblo: A History of Greater Mexico, Vol.II,Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (New Jersey), 1994, 312.

40. Judith Adler Hellman, Mexico in Crisis, 2nd. ed., Holmes & Meier Publishers,New York and London, 1988 (1978), 40.

22

22

41. Gunther, 95, 98, 127, 266, 336, 496.

42. Latin America was not entirely without rural and small town groups. Thequestion, to pun, is one of degree. See Elsie Rockwell, “Schools of theRevolution: Enacting and Contesting State Forms in Tlaxcala, 1910-1930”, GilbertM. Joseph and Daniel Nugent eds, Everyday Forms of State Formation: Revolutionand the Negotiation of Rule in Modern Mexico, Duke University Press, Durham andLondon, 1994, 201.

43. This is unsurprising considering the felt need for the creation of communityas cities swelled. New Yorkers in the nineteenth century were offered the chanceto join the “various, eclectic, and sometimes a tad bizarre”, including theUniversal Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Independent Order of FaithfulFellows. Mary P. Ryan, Civic Wars: Democracy and Public Life in the American CityDuring the Nineteenth Century, University of California Press, Berkeley andLondon, 1997, 59.

44 70. However, note the following :"De todos los ritos, son considerados como los principales el Rito Escocés

Antiguo y Aceptado y el Rito Inglés de York o Rito de Real Arco. Sin embargo,en algunos países han existido ritos nacionales que han demostrado granactividad, como el Rito Moderno Francés, del que surgió la RevoluciónFrancesa; el Rito del Celeste Imperio, que se practica en Turquía, el Rito Sueco,el Tien-Foe-Whe, de la China; el Benemérito Rito Nacional Mexicano, degloriosa memoria en nuestro país, y muchos más. En México, la gran mayoríade los masones están afiliados al Rito Escocés Antiguo y Aceptado, aunquetambién existen logias yorkinas, principalmente para personas de habla inglesa,así como otros cuerpos que pertenecen al Rito Nacional Mexicano, al RitoPrimitivo de la Masonería universal, al del Derecho Humano (“Droit humain”),al de Adopción y a otros más. " Ramón Martínez Zaldúa, et.al., ,La Masoneríaes..., Valle de México, Mexico City, n.d., 7.

45. See on "not measuring molecules in parscs", Knight, "Weapons and Arches",27.

46. For rural examples of Freemasonry see Mary Kay Vaughan, Cultural Politicsin Revolution: Teachers, Peasants, and Schools in Mexico, 1930-1940, The Universityof Arizona Press, Tucson, 1997, 90, 111, 120, 135. Consider Eric Van Young,“Introduction: Are Regions Good to Think?”, Eric Van Young ed., Mexico’sRegions: Comparative History and Development, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies,UCSD, San Diego, 1992, 1-38.

47. Holzner and Robertson write. “In many societies relatively clear-cut

boundaries are drawn in social-group terms, with matters concerning

23

23

synchronic and diachronic solidarity being closely bound-up with ritual —with praxial structures of consciousness.”op cit. 17.

48. See Nancy Bermeo and Philip Nord, “Civil Society Before Democracy”,European Studies Newsletter, Vol.XXV No.1/2, September 1995, 6.

49. Bruce D. Hudson, “Freemasonry in Latin America”, Philateles, Vol.XXIII No.3,June 1970, 52.

50. See Martin C. Needler, Mexican Politics: The Containment of Conflict, 2nd ed.,Praeger, New York, 19902, 7.

51 Adrian A. Bantjes, As if Jesus Walked on Earth: Cardenismo, Sonora, and theMexican Revolution, Scholarly Resources, Wilmington (Delaware), 1998, 186.

52. Coil, 419.

53. 199 6 List of Lodges Masonic, n.a., Pantagraph Printing & Stationery Co.,Bloomington (Illinois), 1996, 278.

54. Vivane Brachet-Maruez, The Dynamics of Domination: State, Class, and SocialReform in Mexico, 1910-1990, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh andLondon, 1994, 73. Cf. 81, ibid.

55. "Mexicanists are familiar with the notion that parties, poliíicos and presidentsplace great emphasis on establishing their historical, symbolic, and intellectuallegitimacy. Historical precedents are religiously cited, presidents chooseemblematic historical mentors; history itself becomes a significant politicalbattleground." Alan Knight, "Salinas and Social Liberalism in Historical Context",Rob Aitken, et. al, , eds., Dismantling the Mexican State?, Macmillan, London, 1996,2-3.

56. "Masonic Influence on Mexico", n.a., El Ojo del Lago, Guadalajara, Vol.13,No.8,April 1997, 1-3.

57. The authors have found them adorning lodge foyers in the states of Mexico,Veracruz, Campeche, Zacatecas, Nuevo León...

58. Marjorie Becker, "Torching in Purísma", Joseph and Nugent, 248.

59. See John Tutino, From Insurrection to Revolution in Mexico: Social Bases ofAgrarian Violenc , 1750-1940, Princeton University Press, 1986, 348.

60. Conversation held in May 1998.