--- description: Find out why Diana Salazar Méndez is one of the 100 most influential people of 2024. title: Diana Salazar Méndez: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1cb60e70b631f3ab/698a558e47ca38d6d33bd65d/time-100-2024-diana-salazar.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 17, 2024 # Diana Salazar Méndez by Samantha Power  UIO-ANIVERSARIO-32-GOE Quito, 27 de marzo de 2024\. El presidente Daniel Noboa, junto a autoridades nacionales, acudieron a la ceremonia por los 32 anos de aniversario del GOE. Diana Salazar, fiscal general. API / HAMILTON LOPEZ Quito Pichincha Ecuador POL-UIO-ANIVERSARIO-32-GOE-e7fd1ddbd8727e8bea89e57efdf0950a \*\*\* UIO ANNIVERSARY 32 GOE Quito, March 27, 2024 President Daniel Noboa, along with national authorities, attended the ceremony for the 32nd anniversary of the GOE Diana Salazar, Attorney General API HAMILTON LOPEZ Quito Pichincha Ecuador POL UIO ANNIVERSARY 32 GOE e7fd1ddbd8727e8bea89e57efdf0950a Copyright: xHamiltonxLopezxNo Use Switzerland. No Use Germany. No Use Japan. No Use Austria UIO-ANIVERSARIO-32-GOE Quito, 27 de marzo de 2024\. El presidente Daniel Noboa, junto a autoridades nacionales, acudieron a la ceremonia por los 32 anos de aniversario del GOE. Diana Salazar, fiscal general. API / HAMILTON LOPEZ Quito Pichincha Ecuador POL-UIO-ANIVERSARIO-32-GOE-e7fd1ddbd8727e8bea89e57efdf0950a \*\*\* UIO ANNIVERSARY 32 GOE Quito, March 27, 2024 President Daniel Noboa, along with national authorities, attended the ceremony for the 32nd anniversary of the GOE Diana Salazar, Attorney General API HAMILTON LOPEZ Quito Pichincha Ecuador POL UIO ANNIVERSARY 32 GOE e7fd1ddbd8727e8bea89e57efdf0950a Copyright: xHamiltonxLopezxNo Use Switzerland. No Use Germany. No Use Japan. No Use AustriaIMAGO/Agencia Prensa-Independiente Diana Salazar Méndez—the youngest person, at 42, and the first Black woman to serve as Ecuador’s top law-enforcement official—has one of the hardest and most dangerous jobs in the western hemisphere. While she has pursued challenging cases before—not every prosecutor can say they have successfully secured convictions of a top football executive and a former President—Ecuador’s Attorney General is now spearheading the effort to prevent violent and well-connected drug traffickers from ruining her beloved country. As she prosecutes embedded webs of powerful political, judicial, police, and economic players allied with the drug traffickers, she and her family have been subjected to a stream of threats, rendered credible by [gangs](https://time.com/6306577/ecuador-election-gang-violence-safety/ "undefined") that have a history of targeting with guns those who have targeted them with the law. In a country where trust in institutions has been low, Salazar has earned the respect and support of a population desperate for calm and safety. As she puts it, “It’s time to tell all of Ecuador that justice will not kneel down.” _Power is the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965206/diana-salazar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965206/diana-salazar/"},"headline":"Diana Salazar Méndez","datePublished":"2024-04-17T11:07:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:29:23.066Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965206/diana-salazar/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","2024TIME100","T100Leaders2024"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1cb60e70b631f3ab/698a558e47ca38d6d33bd65d/time-100-2024-diana-salazar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1cb60e70b631f3ab/698a558e47ca38d6d33bd65d/time-100-2024-diana-salazar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965206/diana-salazar/","name":"Diana Salazar Méndez"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See Everyone on the TIME100 2024 list","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/73p9kgIN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-04-17T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/73p9kgIN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965206/diana-salazar/","duration":"PT1M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965206/diana-salazar/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```