Born in Carboneras near Mineral del Chico, Cabrera had her first sub-three hour marathon in 1991, finishing the Houston Marathon in 2:53:54 hours. Her international career flourished that decade, starting with a gold medal at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games in a games record time of 2:42:29 hours. Her global debut followed at the 1994 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where she was 60th overall. She ran her marathon best that year – 2:35:43 hours for runner-up at the Monterrey Marathon.