President Claudia Sheinbaum is among “the 100 most influential people of 2026,” according to Time magazine.
It is the second consecutive year that Mexico’s first female president appears on Time’s annual list of the year’s “most influential people.”
In 2026, Sheinbaum joins leaders such as U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, as well as various artists, pioneers, titans, icons and innovators, on the Time list, which was published on Wednesday.
Mexico-based journalist Ioan Grillo penned the profile of the 63-year-old leader for Time’s annual list.
“Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum began her first full year in office with pressure from all sides,” he wrote.
“Donald Trump, then the U.S. President-elect, had threatened to slap tariffs on Mexico and launch American military strikes into its territory. Violent gangsters ran fentanyl and human smuggling over the Rio Grande. And her domestic critics claimed she would be overshadowed by her crusading predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.”
Grillo wrote that Sheinbaum’s “response to the onslaught was a lesson in diplomacy.”
“She hit cartels hard, raiding labs, transferring bosses into U.S. custody, and taking down the kingpin ‘El Mencho,’ helping to stave off more aggressive American intervention,” he wrote.
“She spoke coolly in defense of Mexican sovereignty while avoiding confrontation,” Grillo added.
He wrote that Sheinbaum’s “wins made her one of the most popular leaders in the region and a success story for mixing populism with pragmatism.”
“Yet with Mexico’s economy sluggish, crime still critical, and tens of thousands of disappeared still missing, it may be an uphill battle to turn her strong start into a lasting legacy,” Grillo opined.
Sheinbaum is the only Mexican on Time’s list of “the 100 most influential people of 2026,” whereas in 2025 she was joined by the Toluca-born actor Diego Luna.
Among the president’s companions on this year’s list are the singers Luke Combs and Jennnie, the actors Claire Danes and Benicio del Toro, labor leader and activist Dolores Huerta, YouTuber MrBeast, fashion designer Ralph Lauren, pop star and fashion designer Victoria Beckham, Pope Leo XIV, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peruvian activist Mari Luz Canaquiri Murayari.
AMLO and Salma Hayek among Time’s ‘100 most influential people’ in previous years
A number of Mexicans have been included on Time’s “100 most influential people” lists in previous years.
They include former president López Obrador (AMLO), who appeared on the list in 2019, and Salma Hayek, a telenovela star turned Hollywood actress and producer, who was one of Time’s “100 most influential people” in 2023.
Among the other Mexicans who have made Time’s annual “100 most influential people” list are:
- Activist Olimpia Coral Melo Cruz in 2021, thanks to her work to outlaw revenge porn in Mexico.
- Madre buscadora (searching mother) María Herrera Magdaleno in 2023.
- Former president Enrique Peña Nieto in 2013.
Mexico News Daily
