A program by the anonymous spokesman Cuban Warrior and the arrest of the writer Ángel Santiesteban form part of the measures against those who oppose the current Grand Master

14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 26 July 2024 — The Cuban regime has demonstrated in the last 48 hours that the protest of Freemasons on July 23 in the building of the Grand Lodge, in Havana, did not go unnoticed. An official note from the Ministry of Justice, a program on the Freemasons by the anonymous spokesman Guerrero Cubano and the detention, this Thursday, of the writer and Freemason Ángel Santiesteban indicate that the Government is not willing to lose control of the situation.
The crisis revolves around the figure of the several times-expelled and rehabilitated Grand Master, Mario Alberto Urquía Carreño, whose leadership has been in question since the theft of $19,000 from his office last January. A large group of Freemasons, among whom are almost all the senior officials of the fraternity, have been demanding his dismissal since then, because they consider him to be a tool of State Security to weaken and infiltrate the organization.
After the protest on July 23, during which Urquía Carreño refused to leave his office, the Government hinted he would cede in a statement broadcast live by the independent press. The Ministry of Justice, in an ambiguous document signed that same day, said that after detecting “irregularities” in the sanctions issued against Urquía Carreño – his deposition as leader and his expulsion from Freemasonry – and the election of a new Master, Juan Alberto Kessel Linares, they should continue “to carry out those processes again in accordance with the statutes and the will of the members.”
At first glance, the text seemed a simple capitulation of the Ministry, which in the face of disgust with Urquía Carreño and the exodus of Kessel – who gave the seat again to his predecessor – recognized the right of the Freemasons to self-determination. However, subsequent events made it evident that the matter was not over.
In a subtle way, the Ministry emphasized the differences between the two Masonic bodies into which Cuban Freemasonry is divided
In a subtle way, the Ministry emphasized the differences between the two Masonic bodies into which Cuban Freemasonry is divided: the Grand Lodge – at the moment presided over by Urquía Carreño – and the Supreme Council of Degree 33, headed by Ramón Viñas Alonso, critic of the regime and accuser of Urquía Carreño. The Ministry had already clarified that it considered both bodies to be different institutions for legal purposes, and it has said that the Supreme Council operated illegally against the Grand Lodge, in the person of Urquía Carreño.
The strategy of dividing both bodies was, precisely, the one followed by the Guerrero Cubano [Cuban Warrior] YouTube channel, which is usually cited and reproduced by the official media. For 45 minutes, Cuban Warrior was dedicated to attacking Viñas Alonso and the Supreme Council, suggesting that they behaved “irregularly” and that they were the real culprits of the crisis, for revealing “Masonic matters to laymen” – that is, to those not initiated in the order.
The same accusation fell on independent journalist Camila Acosta, to whom Cuban Warrior mistakenly attributes a romantic relationship with Viñas. In the argument of the official government YouTuber, Acosta has disclosed – by order of the CIA, he affirms – Masonic secrets and has exposed the fraternity. In his opinion, the Ministry of Justice has done nothing more than to ensure compliance with the statutes.
Cuban Warrior directed its invective against a third person: the journalist and 33rd degree Freemason – the highest degree of Freemasonry – Ángel Santiesteban. Critical of the Government and close to Viñas, Santiesteban has been in the sights of State Security since before the crisis began. This Thursday, according to a message published by Acosta, his partner, he was arrested by the political police and released hours later.
Acosta said the arrest was “a direct affront to Freemasonry” and accused the Police of giving the July 23 protest “a political connotation”
Acosta said the arrest was “a direct affront to Freemasonry” and accused the Police of giving the July 23 protest “a political connotation” to justify the arrest of the Freemasons opposed to Urquía Carreño. “This is not only a blow to Freemasonry but also to the homeland. It is the implementation of a dictatorship within an institution that has been able to survive in a dictatorship and continue to promote freedom, equality and fraternity,” she said.
Santiesteban, she added, was about to go to Viñas Alonso’s house at 2:00 pm this Thursday when he was arrested. Both Freemasons intended to discuss the current situation of the fraternity and analyze the crisis due to Urquía Carreño’s insistence on remaining in office.
For his part, the Grand Master himself – who, entrenched in his office, did not want to talk to those who complained about his presence on July 23 – issued a new circular, reproduced by CubaNet. In the document, signed on the 24th, Urquía Carreño gave his version of the “Masons and laymen” protest, convened by “instant messaging groups.”
The title of the Secretary of the Grand Lodge, Juliannis Reinaldo Galano, along with that of Urquía Carreño, and the fact that no one has prevented him from entering the lodge, means that at least one group of Freemasons allied with Urquía Carreño continues to support his leadership.
According to the text, the cause of the protest was Decree 1761 – signed by the Secretary – which suspended the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Recognition between the Supreme Council for Degree 33 and the Grand Lodge, which dates from 1876 and is one of the oldest and most significant documents of Cuban Freemasonry.
Urquía Carreño complained that the protest, which had been called for the outskirts of the Grand Lodge building on Carlos III Street, “ended” on the 11th floor, knocking on the doors of his office. “The claims made within the alleged Masonic laws were not made at all in accordance with our precepts and oaths,” he alleged.
Urquía Carreño complained that the protest, which had been called for the outskirts of the Grand Lodge building on Carlos III Street, “ended” on the 11th floor
He also added fuel to the dispute between the two highest authorities of Cuban Freemasonry; he pointed to Santiesteban as a “representation ” of the Supreme Council, “who has had a leading role in the campaign of discredit and misrepresentation of the facts.”
He also alluded to Acosta – present at the protest – who, according to Urquía Carreño, was an instrument of Santiesteban to involve the independent press and expose “Masonic internal affairs,” an argument that Cuban Warrior had already put forward. Acosta “has attacked this Grand Lodge of Cuba and this Grand Master with information that a layman should not control,” he said.
Neither the Ministry of Justice, nor Urquía Carreño or Cuban Warrior has mentioned the theft of the money from the Llansó Masonic Asylum – and other sums whose loss was reported in the following months – that triggered the crisis in January. It remains to be seen if, in the coming weeks, the Grand Lodge will take literally the statement of the ministry that suggests turning the page and choosing a new Grand Master, or if the crisis will give the Government an excuse to suspend – and therefore, ban – the Grand Lodge and the Supreme Council from its Registry of Associations.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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