In 2010, Rivera was appointed Minister of National Defence of Colombia by President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón and served until his resignation the following year.

Fresh out of College, he was elected Councilman to the Pereira City Council at the age of 20 and served on it until 1989,[2] during this time he also worked as Professor of Constitutional Law at his alma mater, the Free University of Pereira, and wrote as a columnist for the nationally syndicated newspaper of El Espectador, and the local newspaper La Tarde.

In 2007, in his first break from politics, he attended the Washington College of Law as a Humphrey Fellow, specializing in Economic Development and Human Rights.

[5] On 31 August 2011, President Santos announced the resignation of Minister Rivera and offered him the post of Ambassador of Colombia to Belgium that is concurrently accredited to Luxembourg and the European Union.

[7] When it was announced that Uribe would not run for re-election because of the ruling passed down by Constitutional Court of Colombia, Rivera threw his support behind Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, Uribe's Minister of Defence and presidential nominee for the Party of the U, becoming the Political Manager of Santos' campaign.