What happened at the Grand Lodge of Cuba?

The Grand Lodge of Cuba has experienced a series of turbulent events in the last few months that have led this discreet community to make headlines in the press, highlighting internal conflicts within the institution.

It all began on January 12, 2024, when the theft of 19,000 dollars from a safe where the Treasury of the Llansó National Masonic Asylum was kept was reported.

The Grand Master and co-president of the Board of the Lodge, Mario Alberto Urquia Carreño, kept the money in his office. He issued an official statement on January 15, denying his responsibility for the disappearance of the money and announcing measures to investigate the incident.

At the end of that month, the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Republic of Cuba expelled the Grand Master, accusing him of negligence and mismanagement.

However, Mario Alberto Urquía Carreño refused to leave his position. During the semi-annual session of the High Chamber, he had to leave the room amid shouts of "out thief, usurper, shameless, traitor."

The High Masonic Chamber announced on March 26 the election of Juan Alberto Kessel Linares as the new Grand Master.

In April, former Grand Master Mario Alberto Urquia Carreño was accused by Cuban authorities of embezzling $2,360, intensifying the internal crisis of the Cuban Freemasonry.

A few days after the formal accusation was made to the police, the Ministry of Justice of Cuba intervened and imposed sanctions on the Masons involved in the alleged money thefts.

Additionally, the governmental institution suspended official activities and denied the possibility of operating bank accounts to the Grand Lodge and the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Republic of Cuba, in response to the events in that entity.

In June, the Associations Department of the Ministry of Justice of Cuba invalidated the expulsion of Mario Alberto Urquía Carreño and officially reinstated him at the helm of the Supreme Council and the Grand Lodge.

In other words, the government intervened in the Lodge and invalidated the decision of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Republic of Cuba.

This situation generated an adverse reaction among the Freemasons, who disowned the authority of Urquía Carreño and stated that they will inform the MINJUS Association Registry about it.

This series of events has shaken the Cuban Masonic community, revealing internal tensions and power struggles that remain unresolved. It also shows how the regime extends its reach to govern even in institutions where they should have neither a voice nor a vote.