[2] A leader of the women's suffrage movement in Colombia, she and fellow suffragist Josefina Valencia Muñoz, were the first women appointed to a national legislative position in Colombia as part of the National Constituent Assembly in 1954, where they presented what would eventually be the Legislative Act No.

She entered private practice in Cali, where she focused on labour law concerning the disparity in wages by the Pacific Railway to its employees.

Arboleda continued her vocal opposition to and criticism of the Government of President Rojas; for this, she was harassed, spied on, and threatened.

In 1968, she was appointed by President Carlos Lleras Restrepo Deputy Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations serving under then ambassador Julio César Turbay Ayala.

Uribe died in 1968 and Arboleda married Mexican diplomat Francisco Cuevas Cancino [es].

Much of Arboleda's work can be found in the Luis Ángel Arango Library in Bogotá, thanks to donations by her son, Sergio.

[11] In 2022, it was announced that a Spanish-language feature film, Estimados Señores (Dear Gentlemen), was in production on the life of Arboleda.