HAVANA, Cuba. – This Thursday, around 50 Venerable Masters (leaders) of Masonic lodges met with Caridad Diego, head of the Office for Attention to Fraternal and Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), at the headquarters of the Government of the municipality of Old Havana.
The meeting was called by Diego two days before and took place just a week after The massive protest of freemasons in the Grand Lodge of Cuba to demand that the Grand Master appointed by the Government, Mario Urquía Carreño, step down from his post, as well as the cessation of interference by the Ministry of Justice (MINJUS) in its internal affairs.
Also participating on the government side were: Miriam García (MINJUS), Carlos Álvarez and Idalmis Vázquez. On the other hand, less than half of the representatives of the Havana lodges attended.
Several Masons and witnesses assured CubaNet that the meeting place remained surrounded by uniformed police and officers of the State Security in civilian clothes. The authorities only allowed the Venerable Masters to enter the room where they met with Diego after making sure they left their cell phones outside the facility.
Repressive day
Two hours earlier, former political prisoner and Masonic leader Ángel Santiesteban Prats was arrested as he left his home. The writer told CubaNet that the officers did not show him a court order and kept him for about six hours inside a patrol car in the parking lot of the police station in the municipality of La Lisa.
“They didn’t even talk to me. Their goal was to prevent me from attending the meeting with Caridad Diego because they knew I wasn’t going to let them sweet-talk the rest of us. They only released me when that meeting was over,” he said.
Santiesteban explained that he had only agreed to attend the meeting with the regime officials because he is the Worshipful Master (highest authority) of his lodge.
“For me, it was quite disappointing to have to face that repressive lady, but my lodge had given me a commission. I would only fail to fulfill it if I was in prison or dead,” he added.
He also said that at the La Lisa police station he saw riot buses loaded with plainclothes soldiers, who were sent to the meeting area: “I saw when they were sent there and when they returned,” he said.
CubaNet He consulted with several Masons who witnessed the meeting to learn the details of the meeting, which lasted about four hours.
Political character and independent press
Witnesses told this newspaper that Caridad Diego began with “a long speech” in which she insisted on the supposed political nature of the Masons’ claim, as well as expressed disagreement with the participation in the news coverage of “some independent journalists” opposed to the Government.
“They complain about the participation of the said press in our activities, and they were told that the independent press only uses the space that the Cuban press does not use when it refuses to participate in our public activities; they were reminded that the Cuban press learned of the events of July 11 from the international press,” said a witness who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Another witness said that the authorities mentioned the YouTube channel “Un asere pensante” (A Thinking Ass), owned by the Spanish-based Mason Brian Infante. In this regard, they stated that his program attempts to link Freemasonry with politics.
Government officials also expressed concern about the celebration of Fidel Castro’s birthday on August 13. “They fear that the situation will become heated and they would not like Freemasonry to be involved in these events,” said the interviewee.
Internal problems
Diego and the rest of the officials said that they want to “avoid a schism in Freemasonry and that it is very important that we resolve Masonic problems internally. They said that the spirit of the Office is to achieve the unity of Cuban Freemasonry and that they want to give confidence and evaluate the opinions of Masons,” the source said.
For this reason, the officials stated that they will hold several meetings “to clarify the publications on social networks, especially from abroad, which are illegal, according to them, and that they will visit all the lodges in Havana starting in September.”
They will also advise provincial entities to visit lodges in the interior of the country.
On the other hand, they reported that the Government will change Law 54, known as the Law of Associations, “for an Associative Law that will be disseminated and that can be enriched by all fraternal institutions.”
On Thursday morning there was also a meeting with the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, José Ramón Viñas Alonso.
About Mario Urquia
One of the witnesses said that, although they did not say so explicitly, the officials acknowledged that they were wrong to impose Mario Urquía as Grand Master and that “the approach they tried to take did not work for them.”
“They said that their opinion on the matter was in accordance with our laws and that the sentence of expulsion of Urquía Carreño never reached them; that it is our right to resolve the situation among ourselves, but they always reaffirmed that we should do so with discretion and peacefully.”
Regarding the session of the Upper House on March 24 of this year, in which Urquía Carreño was expelled Shouting “out with you coward, thief and traitor,” the authorities claimed to have received two different reports and that they never knew the number of lodges against the Grand Master.
“It was clear that they were wrong, it was clear that both Urquía Carreño and Misiel [el Gran Secretario]they lied and manipulated the information submitted to the MINJUS Registry of Associations, which led to an incorrect ruling and this whole situation. It was clear that the next session of the Upper House that is convened will repeat the same decision: we do not want Urquía as a traitor, it is irrevocable and will not change,” said the source.
Another Mason pointed out that, in the interventions of the lodge representatives, it was made clear that Urquía Carreño is installed in the Grand Lodge building because he feels supported by the authorities and that, therefore, it is they who have to convey to him that the Masons do not want him and that he has to leave the office.
Officials said they would review everything again and issue a new opinion.
“Miriam [García, la representante del MINJUS] He explained that they received a document from the PNR stating that Mario Urquía Carreño was released from custody the money ($19,000)but not of being responsible for the loss. A brother answered them that our lawyer, in charge of the case, had not received that answer or any other until the 25th, and how was it possible that they had it,” said one of the sources interviewed.
General considerations
“I think that, despite the willingness of the parties, the most diverse opinions were heard, still timid, with suspicion, and even a lot of fear of losing the spotlight, but even so I think it was positive,” said a witness.
“In the end, it is they who are the ones with the political problem. Freemasonry is not interested in getting involved in political problems, although Masons are free to do individually what they see fit with their political position,” he added.
Another source praised the meeting as positive: “We have gained visibility. They are willing to address our complaint or else it will become a political problem, which also means that the Registry’s inspections will be intensified in the future.”
For its part, Santiesteban Prats stated that at that meeting “they made fun of Freemasonry.”
“It was like singing a lullaby to a baby. They knew that that speech would not be accepted. They should have accepted that they were wrong, and a long time ago. But I know them and they know me too, that is why they arrested me before,” he said.
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