Sheynnis Palacios, Miss Universe 2023, sent a message to Venezuelans who are currently experiencing the repression of protests against the electoral fraud orchestrated by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro. “I would like to send a long greeting and a big hug to the people of Venezuela around the world. As a universal queen, I want peace to reside in the entire world,” said the beauty.
Palacios reiterated the importance of peace, love and respect in the face of “whatever circumstance the world is going through.” Although political questions were avoided during the press conference she gave in Panama, the beauty queen took advantage of the farewell to send a message to Venezuela.
Venezuela is experiencing political tension following the presidential elections of July 28, in which the Chavista National Electoral Council announced the leftist Nicolás Maduro as the winner for a third presidential term without presenting all the official records, which led to massive protests throughout the country.
On her third day of protests, opposition leader María Corina Machado reported 177 arbitrary arrests, 11 forced disappearances and at least 16 murders in the last 48 hours, according to her post on X (formerly Twitter). Venezuela’s attorney general announced yesterday more than 700 arrests and the death of a soldier, without mentioning opposition casualties.
The Miss Panama organization insisted that the beauty not be linked to political issues. Sheynnis Palacios, in more than eight months of reign, has not returned to Nicaragua to celebrate with her people. She denied that she is in exile as one of the Miss Universe owners, Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip, had claimed.
Sheynnis Palacios is in Panama as part of her world tour as Miss Universe. The country is one of the seven governments that broke diplomatic relations with the Venezuelan dictatorship after demanding transparency in the election results. In response, the Chavista regime withdrew seven ambassadors and cancelled air connections with the Dominican Republic and Panama.
