From 1953–1957, Rivera worked as a journalist on the staff of the magazine Plática.

In 1985 Rivera was awarded the Segundo Premio Municipal de Novela for En esta dulce tierra (On this Sweet Earth).

[2] In 1992 he won the Premio Nacional de Literatura for his novel La revolución es un sueño eterno (The Revolution is an Eternal Dream).

[3] La sierva (The Servant) received recognition as the best book of 1992 by the foundation El Libro.

Rivera's novel El farmer (The Farmer), about the final years of Juan Manuel de Rosas was one of the best selling books in Argentina during 1996.