Name: Cristina Saralegui

Age: 58

Occupation: Talk show host, journalist, media mogul

Place of Residence: Miami, Florida

Bio: From IMDB: “Born January 29, 1948 in Havana Cuba, Cristina was brought up in the strict image of her grandfather, magazine publisher Don Francisco Saralegui, known throughout Latin America as “The Paper Czar.” He introduced young CRISTINA to journalism. In 1960, at the age of 11, Cristina left Cuba to start anew in Miami’s Cuban exile community. She attended the University of Miami, majoring in mass communications and creative writing, while beginning an internship with Vanidades, the #1 women’s magazine in Latin America.”

After rising through the ranks at Vanidades, Cristina went on to become the Editor-in-Chief Of Cosmopolitan en Español, then decided to try her luck at television. Her talk show, “El Show de Cristina” became an instant success, propelling her into stardom and taking her place as “The Hispanic Oprah”. Her show has been on the air for almost 20 years and shows no sign of losing steam, and neither does Cristina.

Why she’s loved: Fans love Cristina for myriad reasons. They consider her to be a straight talker and an advocate for touching on subjects considered taboo in the Latino community long before anyone else did, in particular the topics of HIV-AIDS and homosexuality. Many credit her with helping diminish homophobia and the marginalization of HIV positive people in the Latino community, and she has been recognized by GLAAD for her efforts. Other love Cristina because she represents “the American dream”, but most agree that the example that Cristina has set as a self-made woman of power in the media industry is one that helped advance the image of Latinas in media and in business in general.

Why she’s hated: We can’t really say that Cristina is hated for any particular reason other than by the right for “supporting homosexuality” and by the pro-Castro left for being just another one of those “affluent Miami Cubans”.

Why she’s influential: Just look at the reasons why she’s loved. She gets people talking about things they don’t want to talk about, she can get an interview with just about anymore, can share a table with dignitaries and superstars and has been largely responsible for putting Univision on the map. The Hispanic Oprah? Oprah herself has said that she is “The Black Cristina”.

VOTE for Cristina Saralegui as VL’s Most Influential Latino 2006.