1981 in Mexico

Events in the year 1981 in Mexico.

Federal government

 * President: José López Portillo
 * Interior Secretary (SEGOB): Enrique Olivares Santana (until November 30), Manuel Bartlett Díaz (starting December 1)
 * Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SRE): Jorge Castañeda y Álvarez
 * Communications Secretary (SCT): Emilio Mújica Montoya
 * Secretary of Defense (SEDENA): Félix Galván López
 * Secretary of Navy: Ricardo Cházaro Lara
 * Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare: Pedro Ojeda Paullada
 * Secretary of Welfare: Pedro Ramírez Vázquez
 * Secretary of Public Education: Fernando Solana Morales
 * Tourism Secretary (SECTUR): Rosa Luz Alegría Escamilla

Supreme Court

 * President of the Supreme Court: Agustín Téllez Cruces

Governors

 * Aguascalientes: Rodolfo Landeros Gallegos
 * Baja California: Roberto de la Madrid (PRI)
 * Baja California Sur: Alberto Andrés Alvarado Arámburo/Angel César Mendoza Arámburo
 * Campeche: Juan Sabines Gutiérrez
 * Chiapas: Oscar Ornelas
 * Chihuahua: Francisco José Madero González
 * Coahuila: Oscar Flores Tapia
 * Colima: Griselda Álvarez
 * Durango: José de las Fuentes Rodríguez
 * Guanajuato: Enrique Velasco Ibarra
 * Guerrero: Rubén Figueroa Figueroa/Alejandro Cervantes Delgado
 * Hidalgo: Jorge Rojo Lugo/Guillermo Rossell de la Lama
 * Jalisco: Flavio Romero de Velasco
 * State of Mexico: Jorge Jiménez Cantú
 * Michoacán: Adán Augusto López Hernández
 * Morelos: Armando León Bejarano (PRI)
 * Nayarit: Antonio Echevarría García
 * Nuevo León: Alfonso Martínez Domínguez
 * Oaxaca: Pedro Vázquez Colmenares
 * Puebla: Toxqui Fernández de Lara/Guillermo Jiménez Morales
 * Querétaro: Rafael Camacho Guzmán
 * Quintana Roo: Jesús Martínez Ross/Pedro Joaquín Coldwell
 * San Luis Potosí: Carlos Jonguitud Barrios
 * Sinaloa: Antonio Toledo Corro
 * Sonora: Samuel Ocaña García
 * Tabasco: Leandro Rovirosa Wade
 * Tamaulipas: Emilio Martínez Manautou/Enrique Cárdenas González
 * Tlaxcala: Tulio Hernández Gómez
 * Veracruz: Agustín Acosta Lagunes
 * Yucatán: Francisco Luna Kan
 * Zacatecas: José Guadalupe Cervantes Corona
 * Regent of Mexico City: Carlos Hank González

Events

 * September 13 — By presidential decree, the Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones opens its doors in Churubusco.
 * October 8 – Tropical Storm Lidia strikes 23 mi south of Los Mochis, with winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). Heavy rainfall associated with the cyclone caused moderate damage in northwestern Mexico, and at least seventy-three deaths can be attributed to the storm.
 * November – The Unified Socialist Party of Mexico is founded by a merger of four parties.

Awards

 * Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor – Luis Alvarez Barret

Film

 * List of Mexican films of 1981.

Sport

 * 1980–81 Mexican Primera División season.

Births

 * August 6 — José Ron, soap opera actor
 * December 5 – Adan Canto, actor (d. 2024 in the United States)
 * December 21 – Lynda Thomas, singer-songwriter and producer
 * Date unknown — Miriam Rivera, transgender model (d. 2019).