Many Latinos/Hispanics Make ‘TIME 100 Most Influential’

TIME magazine recently announced their choices for the “100 Most Influential People” of 2013 and among them are a number of Latino and Hispanic people.

Known as Pastor Choco, Chicago’s Wilfredo de Jesus was named one of the most influential leaders, with his summary written by Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church.

Warren writes:

…Pastor Choco encourages others to go out into the community not just with words but with his own actions. Under his leadership, New Life is reaching out to the outcasts and forgotten in our society — the homeless, women suffering with addiction and prostitution, and young people in gangs.

Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto was another leader to make the list, with his summary being written by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Richardson states:

Since his narrow election victory, Peña Nieto’s stock has skyrocketed, with near unanimous praise from across Mexican society. He signed a “Pact for Mexico” in December with the two opposition parties and has enacted significant labor reforms. He’s proposed significant changes in the energy and telecommunications sectors, as well as improvements in the nation’s finances. At the Organization of American States, he has led the fight against countries like Ecuador that seek curbs on press freedoms.

…This is a leader to watch.

Current New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez was also listed. Karl Rove, senior adviser to former President George W. Bush wrote:

At 18 and armed with a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum, Susana Martinez guarded parking lots at church bingo nights for her parents’ security business. She later attended law school, becoming a prosecutor and handling child-abuse and homicide cases. Fired by her boss after being called to testify against him, she challenged him at the polls, eventually winning four terms as Doña Ana County district attorney.

…Martinez was considered for Mitt Romney’s running mate last year. If she is re-elected in 2014, her reputation as a reform-minded conservative Republican could grow even more in a second term.

For the first time in 600 years, a Pope retired, leaving cardinals rushing to find a new leader for the Catholic church. Last month, Latin America rejoiced when learning the 266th succeeder of St. Peter would be the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He would become Pope Francis.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York writes:

…With [his] greeting, this newly elected earthly leader of the planet’s 1.2 billion Catholics began to enchant us. It got even better when, a minute later, he bowed down and asked the throng to bless him.

In his first official sermon, six days later, he continued to captivate us, as he encouraged us, ‘Do not be afraid to love! Do not be afraid to be tender!’

Brazilian jurist Joaquim Barbosa presided over the country’s largest political corruption trial and went on to become the first black president of Brazil’s Supreme Court.

Columbia Law School professor Sarah Cleveland on Barbosa:

Barbosa was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2003 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who had pledged to help the underprivileged and improve racial equality. The fiercely independent jurist apparently did not feel indebted. In the face of a long tradition of judicially tolerated corruption, he oversaw a landmark trial involving a $35 million vote-buying scheme that last fall convicted many of Lula’s closest associates. Hailed by one Brazilian newsweekly as “the poor boy who changed Brazil,” Barbosa was sworn in as president of the court a month later.

Latin artists like Christina Aguilera and Miguel also made the list.

Celine Dion had this to say about Aguilera:

Without a doubt, she’s one of the most talented artists the world has ever seen and heard, and I think she’s going to continue to amaze us for many, many years to come.

TIME music critic Douglas Wolk writes of singer Miguel:

…the soul seducer’s Grammy-winning hit single “Adorn” ingeniously evokes Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” and “Let’s Get It On.” What has nourished that tradition over the past 70 years, though — what has kept it not just alive but thriving — is what makes Miguel’s recent music so special: constant innovation, formal daring, unexpected sources of inspiration, and emotional directness.

Published in Latino Daily News