Vivas Valdivieso was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 10 February 1881.

[2] Subsequently, he also became the owner and director of the "El Día" newspaper during the time of the Ponce massacre at the hands of the Insular Police under the governorship of U.S.-appointed Gov.

During his administration, he secured a municipal loan of $1,250,000 ($21.7 million in 2023 dollars[7]) for citywide improvements that would turn the municipality of Ponce, come the administration of his successor Emilio Fagot, into the city it became during the rest of the 20th century.

[10] In Ponce there is a street in Urbanizacion Las Delicias of Barrio Magueyes named after him.

He was buried at Cementerio Católico San Vicente de Paul in Ponce.