Freemasonry in Mexico
Mexican history of fraternal organizations known as Freemasons
The history of Freemasonry in Mexico can be traced to at least 1806, when the first Masonic lodge was formally established in the nation. Many presidents of Mexico were Freemasons, and the movement greatly influenced political actions in the early republic, as holders of conservative ideas gathered in lodges of the Scottish Rite, while reformists chose the York Rite. Hence, escoceses became synonymous with Conservatives and yorkinos with Liberals. Antonio López de Santa Anna was a Scottish Rite Mason.
History
Freemasonry arrived in colonial Mexico during the second half of the 18th century, brought by French immigrants who settled in the capital. However, they were condemned by the local Inquisition and forced to desist. It is probable, though no written evidence exists, that there were itinerant lodges in the Spanish army in New Spain. Freemasons may even have been able to participate in the first autonomist movements, then for independence, conveying the ideas of enlightenment in the late 18th century. Some historians, both Freemasons and non-Freemasons, including Leon Zeldis Mendel and José Antonio Ferrer Benimeli have emphasized that Freemasonry in Latin America had built its own mythology, well away from what history records. The distinction between Patriotic Latin American Societies and Masonic lodges is tenuous.
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This entry incorporates text from “Freemasonry in Mexico” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.