José Daniel Ferrer García published a lengthy article on Facebook in which he denounces that Daniel Llorente Miranda, known as "the man with the flag", is being used by the Cuban political police in an influence operation designed to divide the opposition and discredit the exile community.
The trigger was two videos that Llorente shared on TikTok upon his arrival in Cuba. In the first one, he appeared next to a rental car with two Cuban flags and claimed to have returned to the Island without facing any repercussions.
It is important to remember what made him famous years ago: on May 1, 2017, he defied the regime by running with an American flag in front of Raúl Castro in the Plaza de la Revolución.
"I'm here in Cuba with my little cart, with two Cuban flags; no American flags, no provocations. I came, no one called me," Llorente said on Tuesday, before clarifying that his goal is to "bring the message of salvation" from Jesus Christ to the Cuban people.
In a second video, released on Friday, he is seen leaving the State Security headquarters after discussing his project “Jesus Christ, Cuba is your home.”
"There was no disrespect, there was no mistreatment. They offered us water, coffee, and took us to an office with air conditioning..." he detailed with satisfaction.
Ferrer did not take long to respond with a radically different interpretation of that return. According to the founder of the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU), after that trip, Llorente met with officials from State Security, who offered him water, coffee, and air conditioning, and it was from that experience that he began to assert that "the bad are not so bad" and to attack the exile community, the opposition, and the U.S. government.
“Does a cup of coffee erase Mazorra? Did the air conditioning make him forget 100 and Aldabó? Does courteous conversation transform the henchmen of the dictatorship into good people?” Ferrer wrote, referring to the detention centers where Llorente was held after his famous action on May 1, 2017, when he stormed the official parade in Plaza de la Revolución, running with a large American flag in front of the regime's dome.
Ferrer refers to Llorente's words proclaiming that the salvation of Cuba is in Jesus Christ, and clarifies that "one thing is to announce Christ, and another is to use His name while ultimately promoting the Antichrist who enslaves the Cuban people."
"Llorente seems today much closer to the figure of Judas Iscariot than to that of a good Christian announcing Jesus," he emphasizes, pointing out the political and moral contradiction of speaking in Christ's name while minimizing the repressive nature of tyranny and attacking exile, the opposition, and those who fight for a democratic transition in Cuba.
The opposition figure believes that the regime's manipulators convinced Llorente that he was ungratefully treated in the United States, that he should have been given a medal, a mansion, and a lifetime pension. "They then tell him that they always knew he was a very brave and talented man, and that they know he is called by God to save Cuba, and that they can help him," he explained.
Finally, it calls for reflection on isolated heroic individual actions, which may be genuine or driven by emotions, personal ambitions, the pursuit of notoriety, resentments, economic needs, or changing interests.
"Democratic movements must judge individuals by their trajectories, not just by spectacular moments. True reliability is built over years: enduring sacrifices, organizing, forming teams, supporting others, defending political prisoners, visiting persecuted families, mobilizing citizens, and maintaining consistent conduct when there are no cameras or applause," he asserted.
Daniel Llorente Miranda is the Cuban political activist who in 2017 challenged the regime by running with an American flag in front of Raúl Castro in Plaza de la Revolución; he has returned to Cuba as an ordinary tourist.
Llorente himself announced his return in a video posted on TikTok this week, where he appeared on a street next to a car he rented at the airport.
"With my little cart, with two Cuban flags. No American flags, no provocations," he says at the beginning of the video.
The twist is hard to process: the same man who was exiled from the Island, who crossed the Darién with his son and slept in his car in Tampa, now appears in Havana, proclaiming that he is not here to provoke anyone.
Llorente recounted that he entered the country without any issues: "I came, nobody called me, nobody said anything to me. Everyone told me that they weren't going to let me in... so I tell them no. I left like any Cuban returning to his country, on a visit."
He has his own interpretation of the silence of the authorities. According to him, the regime calculated that acting against him would be counterproductive: "They said: if we call Daniel, we can't tell him that he can't enter because he's Cuban, we can't say that to him. And if we say something, it will be a scandal and people will find out."
The most perplexing change is not only his physical return but also the accompanying rhetoric. Llorente now describes himself as a prophet and Christian messenger. "I did not come in the condition of a flag-waving man; I came in the condition of Moses," he states in the video. His declared mission is to bring to Cubans "the message of salvation" under the slogan "Jesus Christ, Cuba is your home."
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