Miami/After 57 years of absence from Miss Universe, this year the contest will have a representative from Cuba who will be chosen from among Cuban candidates in exile who will participate in a pageant in Miami next September, reported Prince Julio César, the organizer in South Florida (USA).
Without wanting to delve into politics, the national director of Miss Cuba explained to EFE on Monday that Miss Universe, the parent company of these contests around the world, has set itself a “new challenge” this year of having representatives from more than 120 countries, including Cuba, at the gala to be held next November in Mexico.
“Miss Universe was a 100 percent American company and because of that, it was closed to possible transactions with Cuba, and there was no interest from any businessman in the United States who wanted to make Miss Cuba in exile on the way to Miss Universe,” she stressed.
Cesar clarified that the Miss Universe organization “is completely closed to making any transaction with the Cuban government”
César attributes Cuba’s return to Miss Universe to a question of “vision” of the organization.
“I think they are betting on inclusion from all points of view, much more from the cultural point of view, and it has to do with this movement of female empowerment, not taking away or not allowing any woman, regardless of what is happening in her country, that she cannot be,” she said.
However, Cesar clarified that the Miss Universe organization, which is more than 60 years old, “is completely closed to making any transaction with the Cuban government.”
“We do not deal with dictatorial governments or anything like that, but with totally democratic governments. That is why it was decided to give Cuba the opportunity to participate in Miss Universe, but this time from the city of Miami,” he said.
The national director of Miss Cuba-Miss Universe recalled that since the beginning of the dictatorship in Cuba, in 1959, the Island stopped participating in the contest because “it was not compatible with its ideals.”
She explained that for two years there were Cuban queens chosen in exile and crowned at an event held in Miami called Miss Cuba Libre, which did not last due to tensions between Cuba and the United States.
The Venezuelan designer, linked to the queen industry for more than two decades when he worked in casting regional for Miss Venezuela, explained that the organization chose Miami, a city 144 kilometers from the island, because it is “the largest bastion of all Cubans worldwide.”
“They have arrived here by raft, they have arrived here by boat, they have arrived here with a visa”
César explained that out of a thousand candidates who came to this city – among them women born on the island or of Cuban parents – a little more than half were preselected, of which twenty finalists will remain who will participate in a coronation contest next September.
Of the selected group, the majority were born in Cuba. “They have arrived here by raft, they have arrived here by boat, they have arrived here with a visa.”
César stressed the possibility that the winner will bring a message to Mexico at the contest that will surely “be about freedom and democracy.”
The national director of Miss Cuba reiterated that the “vision” of Miss Universe is “inclusion, regardless of the political paradigms that may exist.”
The idea is to “give women the opportunity to express their qualities, their virtues and to convey a message.”
With this idea of inclusion, this year the contest will feature a Miss Argentina who is 60 years old and a Miss Colombia, who is married and has a daughter.
The current Miss Universe, Sheynnis Palacios, the first Nicaraguan and Central American to win Miss Universe, lives in New York to attend to her commitments with the international franchise and for now has no date to return to Nicaragua.
The Miss Nicaragua team is going through a difficult time in their country after the now ex-director of the organization, Karen Celebertti, was exiled by the government headed by Daniel Ortega and accused of the crimes of conspiracy and treason.
