Rufino Cuervo y Barreto (Tibiritá, 28 July 1801 — Bogotá, 21 November 1853) was a Grenadine politician, lawyer and journalist.

[1] After finishing his studies, he joined public office as an official in the Treasury Department and then as a parliamentarian and political leader of Bogotá.

In 1849, he presented his candidacy for the presidential elections of that year, again he was third, but again the final decision passed to Congress, so that he could choose between the three candidates with the most support.

Cuervo, that same month, before the inauguration of José Hilario López, held the position of president again for one day on 31 March.

Married to Mrs. María Francisca Urisarri y Tordecillas, two of his children were part of the political (Antonio Basilio [es]) and cultural (Rufino José) history of the country.