Perón and Alfonsín were Freemasons, Argentine lodge confirms

A set of previously unknown documents revealed that late Argentine presidents Juan Domingo Perón and Raúl Alfonsín were Freemasons. The news put an end to decades of rumors about Perón’s alleged mason membership, although they also open new questions. The documents were made public by the Great Lodge of Argentina of the Free and Accepted Masons, which displayed them for the first time as part of their open-house exhibition at their headquarters during Saturday’s Night of the Museums in Buenos Aires City. Argentine Grand Master Pablo Lázaro told news outlet Infobae that the Great Lodge, which is a federation made up of smaller lodges across Argentina, has been collecting documents for a long time for its general archive, and that’s how they found these records. As part of that process, the masons found letters and documents directly mentioning Perón and Alfonsín as members of the lodge. Although not much information was revealed, further analysis of the files and potentially new documents could provide a better understanding of their participation in the once secret group. Perón, finally confirmed freemason Juan Domingo Perón was vastly speculated to be involved in masonry, although he publicly and harshly criticized the group during his lifetime. In the 1940s, before becoming president, he was part of a secret military lodge known as GOU which very sternly opposed masons. In 1970, Perón gave a historic interview during exile to journalist Tomás Eloy Martínez in which he said masons were part of the “international synarchy” that overthrew his government in 1955, along with “capitalism, Zionism, communism, and the traditional clergy.” In that same interview, however, he acknowledged masonry was key for Argentina to earn its independence from Spain in 1816. However, a never-before-seen document states that Perón was actually a 33rd degree mason, the highest position a member of the lodge can get. This is mentioned in a letter written by the Great Lodge of Italy, dated April 27, 1958 — three years after the coup that overthrew him.  The letter was sent to Perón while he was staying in the Dominican Republic during his exile. It was also sent to Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza and presidents Carlos Armas (Guatemala) and José María Lemub (El Salvador), who are mentioned to be 33rd grade masons as well. In the letter, Perón is mentioned as “Sovereign Great Commander and Grand Master” of masonry, meaning Perón had reached the highest rankings of the lodge. The Italian masons asked him for financial help to fund the candidacies of some of its members in the legislative elections of that year in their country, saying that the situation was “serious, complex and difficult.” According to Lázaro, Perón apparently first started his path in masonry in Switzerland. “During his exile, Perón entered the Grand Lodge Alpina of Switzerland,” Lázaro told Infobae. “He achieved grade 33 a few years later and returns to Argentina as a mason. A lodge that operated in Congress, the National Union Lodge, worked very hard for that.” Perón definitively returned to Argentina in 1973 after almost 18 years of exile and military-enforced proscription, and was elected president for a third time that year. Alfonsín, a masonic president Unlike Perón, there was little to no information linking Alfonsín to masonry. In 2022, Lázaro had publicly started Alfonsín had been a mason, but said they lacked documentation to back the claim. Among the newly revealed documents is a form filled in by hand with Alfonsín’s details requesting entering the great masonic lodge dated Entre Ríos, 1974, complete with a black and white photo of an approximately 47 year-old Alfonsín and his signature. He would become president of Argentina in 1983. In addition, the masons found a letter retelling a visit of Alfonsín to the Chilean great lodge in 1983 to request their support for his presidential candidacy. The letter, seemingly written after Alfinsín’s passing in 2009, describes Alfonsín as a “dear brother,” a term used to speak about fellow masons. “We had not had, since President Salvador Allende and up until now, a dear brother Mason who was a presidential candidate. Therefore, the visit of dear brother Raúl Alfonsín was twice as attractive for Chilean brothers,” the letter said. For Lázaro, the documents regarding Perón and Alfonsín’s “not only prove they were members” of the masons, but also show they were active in it. Masonry in Argentina Argentina has a long history of masonic leaders, going back to the independence era, during the very beginning of the country as an independent nation. Independence heroes such as José de San Martín and Manuel Belgrano — along with many others who worked for Argentina’s independence — were masons, as well as other important leaders and presidents like Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Bartolomé Mitre, Julio Argentino Roca and Bernardino Rivadavia, among many others. More modern mason political figures include President Arturo Illia, dictator Emilio Massera and current national deputy Julio Cobos. The Argentine Great Lodge describes itself as a “philanthropic, philosophical and progressive society” dedicated to “morally and intellectually perfecting people.” On their website, they claim to work to “contribute to the development of a more equal, fair and inclusive society.” The lodge is no longer a secret society, but rather “discrete,” as Lázaro described it. Its headquarters — called Palacio Cangallo, coincidentally on the street Perón 1242 — open its doors to visitors from time to time. It has also been accepting female members for the past 24 years. Cover photo: letter from the Italian Grand Lodge confirming Juan Domingo Perón was a Freemason. Source: Infobae.