Venezuela May Not Go To The Miss Universe

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The serious political situation that Venezuela is going through could be about to claim a new victim: the participation of her current beauty queen, Keysi Sayago, in the Miss Universe pageant.

Beauty pageants have been an important part of Venezuelan popular culture for decades, since their beauty queens are always among the favorites to take the crown. Not in vain have they done so seven times.

However, several former Miss Venezuela have echoed the claim in the networks that in the midst of the political conflict that Venezuela is going through it is not appropriate now to talk about contests like the Miss Universe.

As reported by The Associated Press, despite the fact that the next pageant is still several months away, Miss Venezuela's participation in the highest beauty pageant has become a heated debate.

"A beauty pageant is the most superficial thing that exists on the face of the earth so that right now Venezuela continues to waste time paying attention to a beauty pageant," the Miss Universe of 1996, Alicia Machado, told the agency. "The country is in national disgrace. We are not to be celebrating absolutely nothing. The country is out of control."

"It is a tragedy," added Machado, "not participating in the Miss Universe is the least important, the least transcendental," said the Los Angeles-based actress, who participates as a jury in the Telemundo talent show Great Opportunity.

Other voices, however, consider that precisely a distraction like Miss Universe is what Venezuelans need after months of tension, violence and an endless shortage of basic products.

In late July #MissVenezuela was trending on Twitter, with messages that spoke of a possible exit from Venezuela from the competition. However, so far no organizer or authority has said whether it is considering participating.

If everything continues, Venezuela would be represented in the 66th edition of Miss Universe by its current national beauty queen, Keysi Sayago.

For Maritza Sayalero, crowned in 1979 and who has lived in Mexico for more than three decades, the absence of Venezuela in the contest "would be a very low blow, very hard." Anyway, she clarified, "right now there are more important things than a beauty pageant or a candidate."

For his part, Stefanía Fernández, Miss Universe 2009, commented that he would regret that Sayago could not represent his country in international competition, but acknowledged that Venezuela "is not here to talk about beauty pageants."