Rivera made his debut for El Salvador in 1988 and has earned a total of 74 caps, scoring 15 goals. He has represented his country in 22 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played at the 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1999 UNCAF Nations Cups and was a non-playing squad member at the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup but did play at the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup.