Mario Alberto Urquia CariñoThe Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Cuba was expelled from the semi-annual session of the Senate held Sunday in Havana, due to tensions in the organization after the elections. $19,000 was stolen from this manager's office.
“Away from the thief, rapist, scoundrel, and traitor.”were the shouts uttered by the representatives of more than three hundred lodges in the country at the Grand Master, who was illegal in his position to preside over the said meeting, because, on the 25th of January, he had been arrested. Expelled by the Supreme Council of the 33rd Class of the Republic of Cuba.
This Supreme Council and Grand Lodge have a treaty of peace and friendship whereby, if a Freemason is punished or excommunicated in one of these cases, the other party must abide by the same punishment.
Digital portal Cuba Net A witness to the events narrated that his source, who requested to remain anonymous, told them that “the Grand Master refused to leave the room, but was forced to do so due to the almost unanimous request of the representatives of the forum. There was a lot of discontent built up over the actions of the Grand Master. “He came out saying he would contact the Register of Associations (Ministry of Justice) to file a complaint, but they don’t have any authority here.”
Moreover, he assured him that “this had never happened in Cuban Freemasonry, nor in the aftermath of the painful theft, nor in the blatant intervention of State Security, nor in the expulsion of the Acting Grand Master. “Today is a day of infamy, the day when Cuban Freemasons demonstrate our independence and integrity.”
In a statement regarding the theft of $19,000, while the funds were in his custody, affiliated with the National Masonic Lodge of Llanso, the Grand Master detailed the chronology of events, ruled out resigning from his position and expressed his dissatisfaction. The procedure followed at the extraordinary meeting of the Board of Trustees in which the matter was taken up.
However, by order of the Grand Master, 29 Freemasons were sent to court, and their Masonic rights were thus suspended until the trial. between them, Supreme Commander of the 33rd Class Supreme Council, José Ramón Viñas AlonsoOnly for the Freemasons to inform him of the theft of money that came from donations from brothers inside and outside the island, and his trial was suspended due to insufficient evidence.
former grandmaster, Ernesto Zamora He assumed the presidency of the Senate session, after the departure of Urquia Carreño, and all the decrees he signed from January 25 until now have been challenged, including those in which those who confronted him were sent to court.