Rodrigo Rivera Salazar

{{family name hatnote|Rivera|Salazar|lang=Spanish}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Rodrigo Rivera Salazar

|image = Rodrigo Rivera Salazar.jpg

|alt =

|caption =

|order =

|ambassador_from = Colombian

|country = Belgium

|term_start = 1 December 2011

|term_end = 31 January 2018

|predecessor = Carlos Holmes Trujillo García

|successor = Sergio Jaramillo Caro

|president = Juan Manuel Santos Calderón

|order2 =

|ambassador_from2 = Colombian

|country2 = Luxembourg

|term_start2 = 28 March 2012

|term_end2 = 31 January 2018

|predecessor2 = Carlos Holmes Trujillo García

|successor2 = Sergio Jaramillo Caro

|president2 = Juan Manuel Santos Calderón

|order3 =

|ambassador_from3 = Colombian

|country3 = European Union

|term_start3 = 18 January 2012

|term_end3 = 31 January 2018

|predecessor3 = Carlos Holmes Trujillo García

|successor3 = Sergio Jaramillo Caro

|president3 = Juan Manuel Santos Calderón

|office5 = Minister of National Defence

|term_start5 = 7 August 2010

|term_end5 = 5 September 2011

|president5 = Juan Manuel Santos

|predecessor5 = Gabriel Silva Luján

|successor5 = Juan Carlos Pinzón

|office6 = Senator of Colombia

|term_start6 = 20 July 1998

|term_end6 = 20 July 2006

|office7 = Member of the Chamber of Representatives

|term_start7 = 20 July 1990

|term_end7 = 20 July 1998

|constituency7 = Risaralda

|office8 = President of the Chamber of Representatives

|term_start8 = 20 July 1996

|term_end8 = 20 July 1997

|predecessor8 = Álvaro Benedetti Vargas

|successor8 = Giovanni Lamboglia Mazzilli

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|04|20|df=yes}}

|birth_place = Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia

|nationality = Colombian

|party = Colombian Liberal Party

|otherparty =

|spouse = Claudia Carrasquilla (1993-present)

|children = Sara Rivera Carrasquilla
Manuella Rivera Carrasquilla

|alma_mater = Free University of Colombia

|profession = Lawyer

|signature = Rodrigo Rivera Salazar Signature.svg

|signature_alt = Signature of Rodrigo Rivera Salazar

|website =

|footnotes =

}}

Rodrigo Rivera Salazar (born 20 April 1963){{cite journal |url=http://www.caracol.com.co/nota.aspx?id=1333673 |journal=Caracol Radio |date=2010-07-28 |title=¿Quienes son los ministros designados para los despachos de Defensa y de Interior y de Justicia? |trans-title=Who are the ministers nominated for the ministries of Defence and of Interior and Justice |accessdate=2010-10-20 |language=Spanish }} is a Colombian politician. A lawyer, diplomat, professor and journalist, Rivera served in the Congress first as a Member of the Chamber of Representatives for two terms from 1990 to 1998,{{cite web |url=http://www.congresovisible.org/congresistas/perfil/rodrigo-rivera-salazar/866/#tab=4 |publisher=University of the Andes |author=Congreso Visible |accessdate=2010-10-20 |language=Spanish |title=Rodrigo Rivera Salazar }} and then as Senator of Colombia for two terms from 1998 to 2006, when he retired from Congress to run, ultimately unsuccessfully, for the 2006 Liberal presidential nomination. 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, 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.{{cite journal |url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-10501 |accessdate=2010-10-20 |language=Spanish |date=1991-01-16 |title=Rodrigo Rivera S |journal=El Tiempo}} In 1997 he was recognized by the Junior Chamber International as an Outstanding Young Persons of the World for his work as President of the Chamber of Representatives during the impeachment trial against President Ernesto Samper Pizano.{{cite journal |url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-682929 |title=Rodrigo Rivera |date=1997-11-29 |accessdate=2010-10-20 |language=Spanish |journal=El Tiempo }} In 2003 he was elected President of the Colombia Liberal Party Directorate. 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.wcl.american.edu/scholars/humphrey/fellows.cfm |title=Introducing the AU/WCL 2007-2008 Humphrey Fellows |publisher=Washington College of Law |accessdate=2010-10-20 }}

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.{{cite web |url=http://wsp.presidencia.gov.co/Prensa/2011/Agosto/Paginas/20110831_03.aspx |title=Presidente Santos elogió la gestión del saliente Ministro de Defensa |trans-title=President Santos praised the exiting Minister of Defence |date=2011-08-31 |accessdate=2011-09-03 |language=Spanish |publisher=Office of the President of Colombia (SIG) |location=Bogotá }} He has occupied that position since then