Rodríguez was born on May 24, 1788, in Cartagena de Indias[1] in the Province of Barlovento part of the Viceroyalty of the New Granada, in what is now the Bolívar Department in Colombia.

He participated in the tertulias of Bogotá, particularly in the Tertulia del Buen Gusto,[3] that was held in the house of Manuela Sanz de Santamaría de Manrique and in which participated other important leaders as Camilo Torres Tenorio, Custodio García Rovira, and José Fernández Madrid, among others.

The Junta also made an important point in its agenda to spread the revolutionary ideas to establish its power and foment a nationalist spirit among the people.

Rodríguez, although a fervent patriot, had no military experience, so he enlisted the Frenchman Pierre Labatut and the Spaniard Manuel Cortés Campomanes.

On April 7, 1813, the town of Barlovento, what is now Barranquilla, was given official City status by the government of Rodríguez, and made capital of the Province of Tierraandentro.

Rodríguez issued a proclamation inviting "all foreigners except those of Spain to come and settle in Cartagena" this text was printed in Spanish, English, and French.

The Congress dissolved, and on March 14, 1816, Camilo Torres resigned the presidency, many prominent political and social figures of Bogotá were forced to leave trying to escape the imminent invasion.

[16] Together with María Dávila, Count Pedro Felipe de Casa Valencia, and Camilo Torres Tenorio, they were hanged on that day.

[18] Rodríguez' head was put inside a metal cage and hung from a 30 feet spear and displayed on the outskirts of the city, where the De La Sabana station now stands, to send a message to the insurgents.