Dozens of Cuban Freemasons gathered this Friday at the headquarters of the Supreme Council of Degree 33 in Havana to support the Sovereign Grand Commander, José Ramón Viñas Alonso, in what they denounce as a new attempt by the Ministry of Justice to intervene in the governance of the institution.
According to information from the independent outlet Cubanet, participants claim that they only recognize Viñas as the highest authority of the Supreme Council, as they believe he was elected according to the organization's internal rules.
The mobilization was called after the Ministry of Justice delivered an official summons to Viñas Alonso at his home, requiring him to appear this Friday and hand over the position to an "interim" leader chosen by the authorities, in accordance with the allegations reported.
The Grand Chancellor of the Supreme Council, the writer Ángel Santiesteban Prats, reported that the summons was delivered by Miriam Marta García Meriño, director of Associations at the Ministry of Justice, and required Viñas Alonso to appear at 9:30 in the morning at the institution's headquarters.
According to the complainants, there was an intention to carry out a change that had been unilaterally decided by the Government.
In light of that situation, Santiesteban Prats announced that the Freemasons would gather at 9:00 AM at the Supreme Council, located on 27 de Noviembre Street —formerly Jovellar— in Centro Habana, and requested that they attend with their distinctive attributes.
According to the complaint, the man whom the authorities intend to place at the head of the Supreme Council is Lázaro Faustino Cuesta Valdés.
The representatives of the institution maintain that Cuesta Valdés was removed from his duties as an active member upon turning 80 years old in February 2025, in accordance with the internal legislation of the organization, and that he was later expelled by decision of the Upper Chamber of the Rite.
Santiesteban Prats described the government’s actions as a "swoop" and stated that it constitutes a violation of the rules governing the Supreme Councils.
He also accused the authorities of trying to impose a leader "by decree" against the decisions made by the masons themselves.
Another Mason, Sergio Rafael Vidal Aguila, stated that the Ministry of Justice seeks to implement Resolution 342/25, adopted when Óscar Silvera Martínez was in charge of that department.
That resolution was appealed to the People's Supreme Court, which upheld the administrative decision.
Vidal also stated that the authorities intend to strip Viñas Alonso of his position as a preliminary step to a possible judicial process.
A conflict that dates back to the protests of July 11th
Masonic leaders attribute the origin of the clash with Cuban authorities to July 2021, when the Supreme Council of the Rite approved the sending of an open letter to Miguel Díaz-Canel in which it condemned the so-called "combat order" issued during the protests of July 11, 2021.
Since then, Viñas Alonso has been the target of pressure, interrogations, and various attempts to remove him from his position.
Santiesteban Prats argues that the current operation against the Sovereign Grand Commander is not an isolated incident, but rather a continuation of a conflict that, in his words, has been developing for the past five years following the protests of 11J.
The document recalls that in May 2025, the Ministry of Justice had already attempted to position another leader at the head of the Supreme Council, an initiative that was rejected by the majority of the Freemasons belonging to the Scottish Rite.
Months later, State Security interrogated Viñas Alonso and opened a criminal case for an alleged crime of «currency trafficking».
According to the version collected, the case was related to currency exchange operations at the informal rate intended to financially support the National Masonic Asylum.
Official accusations and rejection by the Freemasons
In parallel to the new attempt at succession, the official site Razones de Cuba published an article accusing Viñas Alonso and Santiesteban Prats of leading an alleged "corruption network" within the Cuban masonry.
The text alleged supposed misappropriations of funds and irregular operations with foreign currency; however, according to the consulted material, it did not present documentary evidence to support those accusations. The official article claimed that Viñas Alonso's downfall "is not political, but ethical."
Masonic leaders reject those allegations and assert that numerous bodies of the fraternity in various parts of Cuba have submitted documents to municipal and provincial registers to express their opposition to the government measure and their support for the current Sovereign Grand Commander.
Santiesteban Prats also called on the Supreme Councils of other countries to raise international awareness of what he describes as a "flagrant violation" of the norms of brotherhood.
The Grand Chancellor is also under pressure from the authorities. In June 2026, he was charged and placed under house arrest, a measure he directly associates with the government’s offensive against Freemasonry.
In his message to the members of the organization both inside and outside of Cuba, Santiesteban advocated for the principle that the highest Masonic authorities should be elected by the members of the fraternity themselves and not based on external political interests.
"The Great Masters and the Sovereigns will never be chosen based on the political tastes and benefits of the regime. They are selected to defend the rights of the Freemasons," he wrote.
This Friday's demonstration represents a new episode in a dispute that has been pitting sections of the Cuban masonry against the authorities for several years.
On this occasion, the Masons gathered in Havana have rallied around Viñas Alonso and reject the Ministry of Justice's determination of who should hold the leadership of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree.
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