Cuba and Spiritism: a partnership that dates back to Kardec’s time
 

Many people, even in the spiritist midst, were surprised when it was announced that the 7th World Spiritist Congress would be held in Cuba, a country subjected to the communist regime, as we know, it has never created facilities in different countries in which it settled, for perform activities of religious or metaphysical nature.

Well! The Congress, which starts on 22nd of this month, will be held in Cuba and with the support of government authorities.

In fact, the surprise has had no reason to be, since Cuba is, according to information released last year by the International Spiritist Council, the 2nd in the world in number of Spiritist Centers in activity. There in Fidel Castro’s land 535 Spiritist Societies registered with the government and some others in the accreditation process.

The reason so many spiritist institutions, if we take into account the size of the country and the number of its inhabitants, it is explained to us by the history of Cuban spiritist movement, which has begun when Allan Kardec was still incarnated.

Everything has begun in 1856 and, since then, several spiritualist centers were founded in Havana, Manzanillo, Caibarien and other locations.

When in 1888 was held the 1st International Spiritist Congress in the city of Barcelona, Cuba was the country with the largest representation, and two years later, in 1890, it was established the Spiritist Federation of Cuba, gathering 23 (twenty-three) institutions.

The country has also seen emerge over the years various spiritists journals as the Journal of Light Ultratumba in 1884, Illustration in 1878, Spaces of Light in 1881, The Torch of Spirits in 1882, The Good Desire in 1884, The Light of the Gospel in 1885, The Good News in 1886, The Dawn in 1888 and The New Alliance in 1888.

In 1902 it gained international prominence book The Criminal Philosophy of Spiritists, from the celebrated writer, anthropologist and criminologist Fernando Ortiz, who curiously declared himself "neo-spiritist." It also stood out in the country the work of journalist Francisco M. Gonzales Quijano (1862-1926), contributor of José Martí, founder of The People's Voice newspaper and participant of the creation of Cuban Spiritist Society, as well as the writer Don Salvador Molina, who attended the Congress of Barcelona.

Regarding the organization of congresses, it is respectable to note that from 1935 to 1963 were held 26 National Congresses in the country, which reflects the proportions that the spiritist movement has achieved over the years, throughout the island.

The years passed and the Revolution led by Fidel Castro, but nothing could smother the seeds sown by the pioneers, a recently point to be register, that was the donation of 14 thousand spiritists books, spread across all spiritists centers existing in Cuba in response to a recommendation made by the Minister of Religious Affairs, Ms. Caridad Diego.

During a lunch with Mr. Nestor Masotti, General Secretary of the International Spiritist Council, Edwin Bravo and Manuel de la Cruz, the Minister said that the main complaint that authorities received from spirits was that it was very difficult to obtain spiritists books. Nestor Masotti asked her how she felt that the ERC could help. "Send a container of books," suggested the Minister. The suggestion was accepted and promptly answered with the help of many people, especially Alipio Gonzalez, Fraternal Message, who donated most of the 14,000 books.

In view of the above facts, there is no reason to doubt that Cuba has all conditions for conducting a large Congress, and that is what we all hope for the sake of the international spiritual movement.