Delegation in Puerto Rico

The Delegation of the Cuban Association in Puerto Rico was approved by the Sovereign Council in 2005, after more than thirty Knights and Dames had been confirmed into the Order of Malta. In November 2006 it was officially established by the President of the Cuban Association, D. Fernando Garcia Chacon, who along with the Vice-President, D. Juan Tomas O’Naghten and the Chancellor, D. Luis Miguel O’Naghten, attended a especial ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A solemn Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez and Mons. Mario Guijarro y de Corzo, the Conventual Chaplain Ad Honorem of the Delegation.

The Delegation has been supporting humanitarian assistance projects since its establishment, aiding the Hospital de la Concepcion, the oldest Hospital in South America, established in the XVI century. Also, the Sisters of Mary local Hospital in the Island and their medical center in Camaguey, Cuba, due to the fact that the Provincial Headquarters for the Caribbean of these nuns is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

La Casa de la Providencia, a house run by the Oblate nuns to assist in the rehabilitation of women due to alcoholism or drugs, has been supported by the Delegation for many years, and continues to be part of their humanitarian assistance projects.

In the summer of 2019, the Delegation and the Hospitaller of the Association participated with local health providers in a vaccination effort in the low-income section of San Juan, Toa Baja and Bayamon, where more than 2,200 individuals received vaccines and basic medical triage.

The delegation has been supportive of the local population with relief efforts established after major hurricanes, especially after the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017. At the time, the delegation established two facilities in  support of the victims, in the areas of Guaynabo and Humacao, that worked continuously for more than 7 months, providing more than 50,000 hot meals, water and other supplies to the local population. The delegation doctors assisted more than 250 patients during this emergency.

Since 2019, the Delegation started a food program to feed the homeless, providing meals, clothing, and medical screening to 75 -100 people who inhabit the section of Rio Piedras neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After the Covid-19 restrictions in March of 2020, the delegation adopted appropriate measures to continue providing food for these poor people, within the restrictions imposed by the sanitary authorities.