Politics and Civil Society in Cuba

176 Chapter 7

We show in bold, the highest and lowest membership figures, cor-
responding to the start of the revolution of 1959 (highest), and right
after the 1980 Mariel Boatlift (lowest). This membership reduction is
mainly due to three factors: (1) the exodus of hundreds of thousands
of Cubans, which included several thousand masons; (2) the resigna-

Table 1. Membership by year: A) Totals; B) Effective Members

TABLE 2. Example of Freemasons relative impact in the 2nd half of the XX

Century

Year Population Masons /1000s Effective

USA 1960 179,323,175 4,103,000 22.8 91.5

2000 281,421,906 1,800,000 6.4 25.6

Cuba 1960 6,000,000 3,400 5.7 22.8

2000 11,000,000 29,000 2.6 9.6

TABLE 3. Development of Cuban Freemasons, approximately by decade

Year Members Lodges Population Effective Masons

1948 22,757 259 5,329,100 17.08

1958 34,025 340 6,638,133 20.50

1968 25,072 332 8,040,800 12.47

1981 19,690 326 9,794,900 8.04

1990 21,153 314 10,433,000 8.11

2000 28,689 314 11,142,000 10.30

2008 29,110 316 11,417,246 10.20