Mónica Baró Sánchez

Mónica Baró Sánchez

Mónica Baró Sánchez is a Cuban independent journalist and writer, born in Havana in 1988. She graduated with a degree in journalism from Havana University in 2012.

In 2015, she co-founded Periodismo de Barrio, an independent digital magazine with an environmental focus, where she served on the Editorial Board and reported on vulnerable communities, natural disasters, housing issues, pollution, agro-ecology, droughts, and lead poisoning. Her 2016 story The Displacement, about a community uprooted in Santiago de Cuba, was a finalist for the Gabriel García Márquez Journalism Award.

In 2018, Mónica began contributing to the digital magazine El Estornudo and became part of its reporting team in Cuba in 2019. That same year, her piece Blood Was Never Yellow, on lead poisoning, won the Gabriel García Márquez Journalism Award in the Text category.

Because of her work as an independent journalist and her defense of human rights, she faced harassment and threats of imprisonment from Cuba’s State Security Department. In January 2021, she left Cuba and sought asylum in Spain. She later moved to the United States, where she completed a Master’s degree in Literary Reportage at New York University in 2024. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies at the University of Miami.

Reflecting on her experience with Alfred Friendly Press Partners Fellowship, Mónica says that the program helped her realize she was not alone as a journalist in exile:

“My story is also the story of many colleagues who had to leave their countries to seek safety but refuse to give up journalism. It is not only a space for professional growth, but also a humanitarian opportunity to heal and regain strength in a safe environment filled with respect and affection.”