She had a large amount of influence on her son's government and she would be honored on her birthday after her death as if she were still alive.

Much is unknown about Cabrera's early life but for the details recorded in historian Rafael Arévalo Martínez's book ¡Ecce Pericles!

and the official Guatemalan government mouthpieces Álbumes de Minerva and La Locomotora, the latter of those once referring to Cabrera as "the Distinguished Doña Joaquina Cabrera de Estrada" even though she was not married.

[3][4] Historians generally agree that Cabrera and her son Manuel Estrada Cabrera led a humble life making and selling confectioneries in the streets of Quetzaltenango and catering for wealthy families in the locality such as the Aparicios.

According to the Guatemalan writer Manuel Valladares Rubio [es], when Manuel was born, Joaquina left him in the care of a priest living next door to her, Pedro Estrada Monzón, who gave his surname (Estrada) to the boy.