Carolina Barrero, Director of Citizenship and Freedom responded with irony to the criticisms from opposition figure Antonio Rodiles regarding her organization, and publicly distanced herself from Manuel Cuesta Morúa's position on a potential amnesty that could benefit members of the Cuban regime. She made these remarks during an interview with Tania Costa, in CiberCuba, from Berlin.
Rodiles had alluded to Citizenship and Freedom in a previous interview in CiberCuba, when referring to organizations that receive grants. Barrero responded without direct confrontation: "I appreciate Rodiles believing that. I consider it a great compliment."
Barrero took the opportunity to clarify a misunderstanding: Citizenship and Freedom does not belong to the Council for Democratic Transition (CTDC), although it works with it. “We do not belong to the Council, but we collaborate with the Council on multiple projects,” he specified.
The organization is indeed part of the Action Forum for Amnesty 2026, established on February 5, 2026, which gathers more than 50 organizations from Cuban civil society.
Barrero explained that her personal commitment to amnesty dates back to July 12, 2021, just days after 11J, when she was one of the first activists to join that cause from within Cuba.
Regarding the specific work of the Forum, it detailed that Ciudadanía y Libertad provided legal and logistical assistance to Wilber Aguilar and a group of 34 family members who submitted the first official letter to the National Assembly in January 2024 requesting amnesty.
"Wilber Aguilar has been the gentleman of Cuban families, with extraordinary bravery," he affirmed.
The draft amnesty law that the Forum is working on covers the period of political violence from 1959 to the present, includes reparations for all political prisoners —including those already released— and proposes a law for the decriminalization of dissent.
"All political prisoners, as is happening in Venezuela, can be released tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, new ones can be arrested. And that is not the idea," Barrero argued.
The point of greatest tension arose when discussing Cuesta Morúa's proposal, who in an article published in El País suggested an amnesty that could also benefit members of the regime. Barrero was direct: "I am against that. What needs to happen is justice."
The activist clearly distinguished between justice and execution: "Justice, of course, is not execution. And justice must adhere to the laws of due process. We cannot become like them, but there must be justice."
Beyond criminal justice, Barrero advocated for the application of lustration in Cuba, the mechanism used in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism to prevent former officials of totalitarian regimes from holding public office. "I strongly believe that in Cuba, many individuals associated with the regime should not be allowed to continue holding positions in the Government," she stated.
He cited Russia as an example: "If there had been lustration in Russia, there would not be a Vladimir Putin today."
Barrero mentioned Pedro Luis Boitel —a political prisoner who died during a hunger strike in 1972 while in the custody of the regime— to highlight institutional responsibility: "If Pedro Luis Boitel died while he was the director of prisons, it is his responsibility."
"There can be no impunity. And we cannot send a message to history that there will be impunity for tyrants. We must close that chapter and make it very clear to history that there will be consequences for those who have committed or participated in these acts, whether or not they were following orders," Barrero concluded.
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