Barrientos was educated at the Federico Froebel German School, where from a young age, she participated in volunteer and leadership activities aimed at environmental conservation.

[1] In 2014, she joined the Cochabamba branch of Global Shapers Community, an international youth organization dedicated to developing projects surrounding political activism, education, environmentalism, and technology.

[2] Barrientos entered the political sphere in late 2016 and early 2017 when she joined the D-19 youth platform, which stood in opposition to the Plurinational Constitutional Court's decision to allow President Evo Morales to run for a fourth term.

Through a family friend, she began participating in political meetings, where she met César Virguetti, who invited her to join the national directorate of Civic Community (CC).

[1][3] To combat the illicit drug trade, Barrientos proposed the legalization of medical marijuana, though she affirmed that any further steps would necessitate "a great national debate".

Those assertions garnered criticism from opposition politicians, including from within her own bloc, and led CC to publicly clarify that they were made in a "personal capacity".