Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, recently elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Republic of Cuba, reported this Thursday on Facebook that his home is surrounded by the political police and that the institution's bank accounts have been frozen for months, preventing the payment of salaries to its workers.
The complaint comes just days after the High Chamber of the Rite elected him as the highest authority of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in Cuba, with 19 votes in favor and one against, replacing José Ramón Viñas Alonso, who had led the organization since 2015.
This Thursday, Santiesteban-Prats and the Grand Secretary were supposed to submit the documentation of the elections held on Saturday, September 26, along with the agreements made by the High Chamber, a routine process that was halted by the police operation, he reported in a Facebook post.
"Since yesterday I have been besieged, I suppose to prevent any solidarity with the trial of Ana Bensi and her mother, which would be nothing more than a human matter. I suffered that same rigid injustice and I know what it means to be supported in moments like these. An operation that violates all universal rights," wrote the writer and dissident.
On the same day of the complaint, the People's Municipal Tribunal of Havana del Este found Anna Bensi and her mother Caridad Silvente guilty, sentencing them to two years of restricted freedom for recording and disseminating on social media the visit of a MININT agent to their home.
Santiesteban-Prats also revealed that the High Chamber of the Rite asked him not to politicize his position, as the primary objective is to restore the legal operability of the institution: "The fundamental purpose is to try to regain the legality of the Supreme Council, especially after they froze the bank accounts, which means that for months now, the salaries of the workers who strive daily to keep it active and maintain communication with the rest of the country have not been able to be paid."
The freezing of accounts is part of a broader state offensive against Cuban masonry. In April 2024, the Ministry of Justice suspended the banking operations of the Grand Lodge and the Supreme Council, citing statutory irregularities.
In May 2025, the regime attempted to impose Lázaro Cuesta Valdés as the leader of the Supreme Council, threatening to withdraw official recognition if the masons rejected the appointment.
The pressure on Santiesteban-Prats himself is not new. In June 2026, he was charged and placed under house arrest in a case linked to a donation of 200 dollars intended for the National Masonic Asylum Llansó.
Later, in August, a precautionary measure was imposed on Viñas Alonso for "disobedience," as part of the same harassment campaign.
The writer, with nearly four decades within the Masonic Order, concluded his denunciation with a quote from Father Félix Varela and a direct accusation: "It is hereby denounced that the Supreme Council has once again been unable to fulfill its duties, due to the political police, which with its constant interference curtails the development of our fraternal activities."
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