Manuel Rodrí­guez Torices (full birth name Manuel Juan Robustiano de los Dolores Rodrí­guez Torices y Quiroz) (May 24, 1788 – October 5, 1816) was a Neogranadine statesman, lawyer, journalist, and Precursor of the Independence of Colombia. He was part of the Triumvirate of the United Provinces of New Granada in 1815, and served as Vice President of the United Provinces after the triumvirate. He was executed during the Reign of Terror of Pablo Morillo in 1816.

Rodríguez was born on May 24, 1788, in Cartagena de Indias in the Province of Barlovento part of the Viceroyalty of the New Granada, in what is now the Bolívar Department in Colombia. His parents were Don Matías Rodríguez Torices, from Burgos, Spain, and doña María Trinidad Quirós y Navarro de Acevedo, from Santafé de Bogotá. He attended elementary school in Cartagena, and then attended the Our Lady of the Rosary University in Santafé de Bogotá, where he graduated in Law.

He participated in the tertulias of Bogotá, particularly in the Tertulia del Buen Gusto, that was held in the house of Manuela Sanz de Santamaría de Manrique and in which participated other important leaders as Camilo Torres Tenorio, Custodio García Rovira, and José Fernández Madrid, among others.

Thanks to the good relations he made in the Tertulia del Buen Gusto, Rodríguez developed an interest in journalism. In 1809 he co-edited the newspaper Seminario de la Nueva Granada with Francisco José de Caldas.

On May 10, 1810, the Ayuntamiento of Cartagena formed a Junta, breaking ties with the Spanish government, but recognizing the regency of the crown. This Junta was the first step for independence in New Granada. The Junta also made an important point in its agenda to spread the revolutionary ideas to establish its power and foment a nationalist spirit among the people. The Junta gave this task to Rodríguez and José Fernández Madrid. On September 10, 1810, Rodríguez and Madrid created the Argos Americano, a political, economical, and literary newspaper with the mission of creating public opinion in favor of the new revolutionary ideas.

On November 11, 1811, the junta declared absolute independence from Spain, the crown, Rodríguez was one of the precursors of the independence, and a member of the Junta, and so was a signer of its Constitution. Rodríguez became Governor President of Cartagena de Indias on April 1, 1812, following the resignation of José María del Real, the Convention of the State of Cartagena granted dictatorial powers to Torices to better handle the situation the State was in.

Rodríguez' main objective while in office was to take control of the royalist province of Santa Marta. Rodríguez, although a fervent patriot, had no military experience, so he enlisted the Frenchman Pierre Labatut and the Spaniard Manuel Cortés Campomanes. Santa Marta fell to the hands of Labatut in early 1814, but the victory was short-lived, and Santa Marta went back to royalist hands.

Because of the strategic position of Cartagena as a port, the early presidents of Cartagena felt the need to develop a strong force to patrol the sea and protect the city, his efforts in doing so, and the continuation by this project by his successors gave birth to what would become the Colombian National Armada. On April 7, 1813, the town of Barlovento, what is now Barranquilla, was given official City status by the government of Rodríguez, and made capital of the Province of Tierraandentro. The decree also issued its Coat of arms, and flag, the flag, would later be used as the flag of the United Provinces.