 He has occupied that position since then

Upon his return to Colombia in 2009, Rivera supported the controversial proposal for a referendum to decide on a third presidential term for President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, and openly supported Uribe's Democratic Security Policies.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.When Santos won the 2010 Colombian presidential election, he named Rivera Minister of National Defence on 28 July 2010, pending his inauguration into office, and when this took place on 7 August 2010, Rivera was sworn in as the new Minister of National Defence.