Masons Under Fire: Cuban Regime Targets Masonic Leadership in Crackdown

Angel Santiesteban Prats, a renowned writer and Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree, has sounded the alarm over what he describes as a politically driven crackdown aimed at dismantling the independent leadership of Cuban Freemasonry. He asserts that the recent sentencing of four Masonic leaders on November 5 is part of a broader strategy by the regime.

In a bold statement on his Facebook page, Santiesteban Prats declared, "The trial is politically motivated. There should be no doubt about it. After hours of proceedings in court, it was clear that no crime could be proven against me. The lay judge agreed with me."

The Diez de Octubre Municipal People's Court in Havana has handed down sentences to four Masons for alleged illegal currency trafficking. Among them, José Ramón Viñas Alonso, former Sovereign Grand Commander, faces four years of restricted freedom and a fine of 25,000 Cuban pesos. Accountant Fernando Marcos García received a three-year sentence and a fine of 20,000 pesos. Santiesteban Prats and Osvaldo Ernesto Villegas Digat were each sentenced to two years and fined 20,000 pesos. All four are also banned from leaving the country and holding public office.

The accusations center around a total of 300 dollars, converted at an informal rate in two transactions conducted in 2023 and 2025 to support the Llansó National Masonic Asylum, a care home for about 90 elderly individuals reliant on donations.

Santiesteban Prats defended the legitimacy of these transactions, stating that the 200 dollars were a donation from a Masonic brother in Miami who later retrieved his money for a purchase. The remaining 100 dollars were used by Villegas Digat to buy medication for his post-surgery child. "This is not illegal market trading," he argued. "It's akin to exchanging 100 dollars with a family member at home—how is that a crime?"

Legal organization Cubalex has expressed skepticism about the trial's fairness, highlighting that both transactions were recorded in the home's financial records. They noted that the investigation's unusual assignment to the National Revolutionary Police's specialized branch for State Security crimes underscores the political nature of the actions. "Involving state intelligence in a $300 accounting issue for a charitable institution is clear evidence of persecution," Cubalex concluded.

The indictment also took aim at Santiesteban Prats's ideological stance, accusing him of openly criticizing the revolutionary process and not engaging in socially beneficial activities.

Santiesteban Prats also accused the tribunal of leaking the verdict to the state-run media outlet Razones de Cuba before the judge had finished reading it. The presiding judge, Zamira Marrero Morgado, is the same official who sentenced content creator Anna Bensi and her mother in October.

The regime's offensive against independent Freemasonry intensified after July 11, 2021, when the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree issued a letter condemning Díaz-Canel's call to confront protesters with violence. Since then, the government has increased interrogations, surprise audits, and account freezes. In August 2026, the Ministry of Justice attempted to appoint an interim leader whom the High Chamber had previously expelled, but a mobilization of Masons in Havana thwarted the effort. With legal avenues exhausted, the High Chamber elected Santiesteban Prats as the new Sovereign Grand Commander in September 2026. The sentences followed shortly thereafter.

Santiesteban Prats, a former political prisoner from a 2013 trial deemed politically motivated by international organizations, recalled a Security of the State lieutenant colonel, known as "Kenia," warning them: "Step down or be removed." In a message to the approximately 28,000 Cuban Masons, he concluded, "The Masons are being tested. Let's see what we're made of."