The image of Daniel Llorente, running in the 2017 May Day parade in Havana with the flag of the “empire,” went around the world.
14ymedio, Havana, 10 April 2025 — “The work I’m doing is remodeling houses, making sporadic repairs, electrical work, plumbing, anything that breaks down.” The words of Daniel Llorente Miranda, the “man with the flag,” sent to 14ymedio via audio message, make it clear that he continues to lead a precarious life in the United States, where he arrived almost four years ago, following a long journey after being exiled from Cuba.
Llorente talks about his jobs with good spirits, and assures that since he has residency, he has no worries about Donald Trump’s tightening immigration policies, but clarifies that his way of earning a living is never fixed: “It’s not a daily occurrence; three jobs may open up in a week, two may open up, or none at all.”
He acknowledges that the best-paying jobs are permanent, but it’s not so easy to get one for someone his age who, moreover, doesn’t speak English. However, the main reason he has avoided stable employment is that he doesn’t want anything to stop him from continuing his activism for freedom on the island. “On occasion, I’ve had to go to Miami to participate in actions. About four weeks ago, I participated in a protest at the Florida Capitol. And if I’m tied to a company, I wouldn’t be able to move freely and fulfill the purpose for which I came to this country,” he explains. “Even if people don’t believe it, I remain committed to the issue of Cuba.”
Three years ago, upon learning that Llorente was homeless, Buran offered him free accommodation. Now the Cuban is returning the favor.
From time to time, he makes the news in the local press, and for the better. A few days ago, an article in the Tampa Bay Times recounted, for example, his story of solidarity with Ralph Buran, the American veteran with whom he shares a house.
Three years ago, upon learning that Llorente was homeless, Buran offered him free accommodation. Now it’s the Cuban who’s returning the favor. The two men, who don’t speak the same language or come from the same culture, have embraced their friendship as a new banner. “I’m still in Tampa, in the same house mentioned in the article. The American and I still live together,” he told this newspaper, while insisting that his main goal is to continue his political activity in exile.
“Everyone knows I didn’t come because I wanted to leave Cuba, but because they kicked me out,” he recalls. The image of Daniel Llorente sneaking into the May Day parade in Havana, 2017, carrying an American flag, went viral around the world. He would be exiled a year later, but not before spending time in a psychiatric hospital, in an attempt to justify his imprisonment.
The time from then until he reached U.S. soil with his son, Eliezer, in June 2021 was an odyssey, including a protest outside the Cuban Embassy in Guyana . Afterward, the “American dream” consisted of night after night of sleeping in a car.
Despite all the difficulties, nothing can deter him from his plan: to fight for Cuba’s freedom. “That’s my main purpose, that’s my life plan, and I have faith that I’ll win with these thoughts I have.”
He warns that he plans to soon carry out a public protest against the situation in Cuba. “I’ll tell you, you’ll find out,” he explains, and listening to him, it’s hard not to remember him running across the esplanade of Havana’s Revolution Square before the astonished eyes of security guards, the generals in their olive-green suits, and the foreign press.
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