Luis A. Berdiel Rivera (born October 8, 1962 in

Adjuntas Adjuntas (, ) is a small mountainside town and municipality in Puerto Rico located central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, north of Yauco, Guayanilla, and Peñuelas; southeast of Utuado; east of Lares and Yauco; an ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

) is a Puerto Rican

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and was member of the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control th ...

in 2009. He is affiliated with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP) and had also served as a Municipal Legislator in Adjuntas.

Early years and studies

Berdiel Rivera was born in

on October 8, 1962. His parents were Miguel Berdiel and Paulina Rivera. He graduated from high school in 1981, with a certificate in

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

in automobile repair and painting. He then received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has c ...

in Elementary Education, and an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

in Special Education. He also opened his own auto body shop while studying in college.

Political career

Berdiel started his political career in 1986 when he was elected to the Municipal Legislative Assembly of

. In January, 1987, he started serving at the Finance Office of the Municipality of Adjuntas and in 1993 started working as Aide to the Mayor. He also worked at the

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA; Spanish: ''LUMA'', ''AEE'') was an electric power company owned by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico responsible for electricity generation, power distribution, and power transmission on the island. ...

office in Bonacillo since February 1995. He was again elected to the Municipal Assembly at the

2000 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2000. Africa * 2000 Ethiopian general election * 2000 Ghanaian presidential election * 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election * 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election * 2000 Ivorian presiden ...

. Berdiel was elected to the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, along with

Larry Seilhamer Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

, being the first time the New Progressive Party had won that district in 16 years.Elecciones Generales 2008: Escrutinio General
on CEEPUR in this term, he presided the Commission of Agriculture, and was vice president of the Special Commission oh the Port of Las Américas. In 2016, Berdiel was elected once more for the Senate. Berdiel Rivera is currently presiding the Commission of Agriculture. He is the vice president for the Committee on Environmental Health and National Resources, the Committee on Development of the South Central Region and the Committee on Ethics and Public Integrity. Moreover, he is also the Secretary in the Committee on Appointments and the Committee on Public Safety. In 2017, he opposed a senate project that would have prohibited the use of glyphosate (a carcinogen) in the public areas of Puerto Rico.

Personal life

Berdiel has been married to Jannette Rivera since December 1989. They have two children together: Luis Miguel and Janeliz Berdiel.

References

External links

Hon. Luis Berdiel
on SenadoPR {{DEFAULTSORT:Berdiel Rivera, Luis A. 1962 births Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni Living people New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians People from Adjuntas, Puerto Rico Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico