Ramón Luis Rivera Cruz was born on February 3, 1956. He is the first born of 5 siblings, son to Ramón Luis Rivera and Angélica Cruz. Luis Rivera Jr. attended Colegio Santo Domingo and Escuela Papa Juan XXIII for elementary and secondary school, respectively. Later he continued higher studies at University of Puerto Rico at Bayamón, where he gained a Bachelor of Business Administration and continued studies at American University of Puerto Rico. In 1994 Luis Rivera Jr. married Narel Waleska Colón and had two sons: Ramon Luis III and André Efraín.[2]
Political career
In 1980, he started his political career as campaign manager for his father, Ramón Luis Rivera, the then-mayor of Bayamon seeking reelection. He was elected as a senator of the Bayamón district in 1992 and was reelected again in 1996.[3]
During his time in the Senate, he was a chairman of different committees. Between them, Committee of Urbanism and Infrastructure, Committee on Ethics, Committee on Youth and the Committee of Recreation and Sports.
In 2000, he aspired for the mayorship of Bayamon, the position his father had served since 1977. He won the mayorship and has been reelected four more times.