The Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba requested sentences ranging from two to four years of restricted freedom, as well as fines of up to 25,000 Cuban pesos, for four Freemasons accused of illegal currency trafficking for operations that in total did not exceed 300 dollars, according to judicial documents accessed by CubaNet.
The accused are José Ramón Viñas Alonso, former Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree; Fernando Marcos García, accountant of the National Masonic Llansó Asylum; Ángel Santiesteban Prats, current Sovereign Grand Commander; and Osvaldo Ernesto Villegas Digat.
The accusation is based on two currency exchange operations conducted at the informal market rate: in September 2023, Viñas Alonso authorized Santiesteban Prats to exchange 49,600 Cuban pesos for 200 dollars from the asylum; and in June 2025, he authorized Villegas Digat to exchange 37,500 pesos for another 100 dollars from the institution.
The dollars came from donations received by the Llansó National Masonic Asylum, an institution for the care of the elderly founded by Cuban Freemasonry in 1918 in Arroyo Naranjo, Havana, which houses around 90 people.
The harshest sentence is imposed on Viñas Alonso: four years of restriction of liberty and a fine of 25,000 CUP. For Marcos García, three years and 20,000 CUP are requested; for Santiesteban Prats and Villegas Digat, two years each and 20,000 CUP per person.
The prosecutor's report includes a characterization of Santiesteban Prats that has little to do with an economic crime: the document states that he "is not engaged in any socially useful activity" and that he "openly expresses opposition to the revolutionary process prevailing in Cuba."
According to documentation from CubaNet, it is striking that the case was processed by the MININT agency specialized in crimes against State Security, even though the alleged offense falls within the economic sphere, not the realm of State security.
The defense attorney, Roberto Ortega Ortiz, requests the acquittal of the four defendants and denies that the operations constitute any crime.
"The currency exchanges made did not represent personal gain for any of those involved; on the contrary, they were made to benefit the lives of the elderly residing at the National Masonic Nursing Home Llansó, which represents a charitable work by the Freemasonry," the lawyer argued in his statement on October 9th.
According to the defense, the 200 dollars were intended to purchase powdered milk for the residents, while the remaining 100 dollars belonged to Villegas Digat personally, who exchanged them so that the institution could have pesos available for emergencies and to buy medication for his son.
The case is part of a campaign by the regime against Cuban Freemasonry that intensified since 2024, with the intervention of the Ministry of Justice in the governing bodies of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree, the freezing of their bank accounts, and the initiation of legal proceedings against its leaders.
Paradoxically, Santiesteban Prats was elected the new sovereign grand commander on September 26, with 19 votes in favor and one against, while he was already under house arrest and facing criminal charges.
The opening order for the oral trial, signed on August 24 by Judge Zamira Marrero Morgado, upholds the precautionary measure for the four defendants and the prohibition against leaving the country.
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