Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo

Colonel Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo (September 2, 1921 – July 29, 1973) was president of El Salvador 1 July 1962 - 1 July 1967.

Rivera was born in Zacatecoluca. He was a military officer who helped lead a military coup in 1961. From January 1961 to September 1961 he was a member of the Civic Military Directory which ruled El Salvador at that time. In 1962 he was elected President for a 5-year term as the candidate of the National Conciliation Party. As a president he signed the Alianza para el Progreso with the United States and accepted a good amount of money to build low-cost housing for Salvadoreans such as the Zacamil buildings and other public works. The Times Magazines from March 16, 1962 said "Colonel Julio Rivera, is loosening the control of "the 14," a group of land and banking families who have ruled the country since Spanish colonial days", and recognized the biggest effort from the 19 Latin American countries that signed the document during U.S. President John F. Kennedy. At the same time, he started a Secret Service called ANSESAL and the head of this agency was Coronel Medrano, a CIA informant. He is known to have started Death Squads in El Salvador using military intelligence and personnel. They would interrogate and eliminate leftist suspects in both the countryside and in the capital. After leaving public office he then went on to serve as Embassador of El Salvador to the United States and The United Nations. During his tenure as president, he was often seen driving through the streets of San Salvador on his 1965 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

From 1968 to 1973, he served as Ambassador to the United States. He died on July 29, 1973, aged 51.