Barreto was born in Bazartete, Portuguese Timor. In 1970, Barreto moved to Portugal to study sociology at the Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (ISCTE) in Lisbon.[1]
Barreto worked at the General Directorate of Land Transport in Portugal [pt].[1] On 11 March 2000, she was awarded the civic honour of Commander of the Order of Liberty of Portugal.[2]
After the Portuguese withdrew from Timor, from 1999 to 2000 Barreto served on the National Political Commission of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT)[3][4] as a Member of the Executive Committee and as Director of the Department of Finance and Resources.[5][6] She handled the finances of the CNRT abroad in Portugal.[7]
In April 2001, Barreto and José Ramos-Horta (later the President of East Timor) travelled to The Hague in the Netherlands as delegates to a conference on East Timor building a new nation state, which was organised by the International Institute of Asian Studies in Leiden and the Platform for Asian Studies in Amsterdam.[8]
Barreto became the first Ambassador from the newly established country of East Timor, with the Embassy in Portugal replacing the dissolved office of the CNRT in Lisbon, Portugal.[9] Barreto served as Ambassador to Portugal from July 2002 to December 2005,[1][10][11] presenting her credentials to President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio.[12] In 2003, she spoke at the Iberian Model United Nations (lMUN) Conference at the Carlucci American International School in Lisbon.[13]
On 6 March 2007, Barreto was awarded the rank of Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry of Portugal.[14] She has promoted the learning of the Portuguese language in East Timor.[15]
On 15 December 2016, Barreto was appointed Ambassador of East Timor to Vietnam.[16][17] She was welcomed by the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi.[18][19] As ambassador, she promoted foreign business investment in East Timor[20][21] and has discussed the development of bilateral trade agreements with the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.[22] In 2020, she participated in the Hanoi Union of Friendship Organizations (HUFO)'s writing competition, winning a third place prize.[23]
In 2023, Barreto was a guest at the opening of an art exhibition of works by East Timorese artist Abel Júpiter at the Lisbon Theatre and Film School in Portugal.[24]
