Carolina Barrero is an art historian, cultural promoter, and Cuban activist. She graduated from the History of Art program at the University of Havana. In Cuba, she worked at the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center. In Spain, where she holds citizenship, she was a scholar at the Museo Nacional del Prado in the Sponsorship and Communication Department and has worked in art galleries.
Barrero is part of the 27N movement that emerged from the protests of hundreds of young people on November 27, 2020, in front of the Ministry of Culture in Havana to denounce the harassment against the San Isidro Movement (MSI) as well as the lack of freedoms and the growing repression on the island against anyone who expresses dissent or thinks differently from the regime.
On January 27, 2021, two months later, following the breakdown of dialogue with the authorities of the Ministry of Culture, young artists gathered again in front of the organization for a peaceful protest. On this occasion, Barrero was detained along with several members of the 27N group.
Since then, Barrero has been the victim of several arbitrary detentions, including the one on January 31 in front of the National Assembly of People's Power, located in the Capitol of Havana, alongside rapper Maykel Osorbo Castillo, with whom he was conducting a live broadcast defending the citizen's right to demand Alpidio's resignation.
Barrero has been warned and threatened during those interrogations where she has been suggested to "better return to Spain," lest they regulate her and later prohibit her from leaving.
In February 2021, Barrero and the activist Solveig Font presented a petition on behalf of the 27N movement to the National Assembly and the Council of State in Havana, calling for the revocation of Alpidio Alonso Grau's positions as deputy and Minister of Culture of Cuba due to the violence with which the minister and other leaders attacked the young people who were peacefully camping outside the institution. Days later, Barrero was detained by police officers while she was out shopping.
In February 2012, State Security threatened the young woman with charges of "clandestine printing" related to public disorder, as stipulated in Article 210 of the Cuban Penal Code, after Barrero printed an image of José Martí covered in stars, intending to commemorate the birth of the Apostle on January 28.
