The candidate from Venezuela was a finalist in the beauty contest. An unusual derivation of the political confrontation.
The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Madurojoined the wave of indignation in the country over the defeat of the national candidate in the beauty contest miss Universeafter the triumph of the American R’Bonney Gabriel, and in an act in Caracas denounced that the ruling was “a robbery”.
“They stole our Miss Universe, Amanda Dudamel won on the street, well it can’t be a robbery like that, she is from Petare, she does community work there in Petare,” a popular neighborhood in the Capital, denounced Maduro, adding to the avalanche of criticism for the result of the contest, an event of enormous importance in the Caribbean country.
Maduro’s fury seems an unusual derivation of the fierce confrontation that his country maintains with the United States, although since last year both parties have shown signs of rapprochement.
Despite the fact that weeks ago the Chavista leader said that he was willing to talk with Washington, this week both governments clashed again, when a spokesman for the United States Foreign Ministry said that for now the policy of sanctions against the country will remain “intact”. South American.
The fight for Miss Universe
Fashion designer and social activist, Amanda Dudamel, daughter of the former coach of the Red wine, Rafael Dudamel, was considered one of the favorites to win the crown. However, R’Bonney Gabriel was selected as the most beautiful woman in the world, in the contest that took place on Saturday.
Dudamel, 23, was the first runner-up at the Miss Universe ceremony held in New Orleans, United States, which unleashed controversial reactions that question the verdict.
Without alluding to the criticism of Miss Universe, Dudamel, who was crowned Miss Venezuela in 2021 in a modest ceremony marked by the covid-19 pandemic, thanked for her part, the support of the followers of the contest that has given Venezuela seven universal crowns.
“I am HAPPY, satisfied and more grateful than ever!!! THANK YOU VENEZUELA, for accompanying me to dream GIANT! AND THANK YOU to all the people from different countries around the world who joined this path of illusion”, was part of the message in Instagram that has received close to half a million likes.
Texas Representative R’Bonney Gabriel is 28 years old and a sustainable fashion designer.
Venezuela has not won Miss Universe since 2013, when María Gabriela Isler, one of the current directors of Miss Venezuela, was crowned.
political friction
Amid outrage over the beauty pageant, relations between Washington and Caracas became strained again this week for foreign policy reasons.
The Venezuelan government on Monday rejected the statements made by a spokesperson for the United States State Department about keeping the sanctions policy against the South American country “intact” until concrete steps are taken for the “return of democracy.”
“Venezuela rejects the statements of the Department of State reiterating the continuity of its failed policy of aggression through unilateral coercive measures,” Foreign Minister Yván Gil said on his Twitter account.
He pointed out that the application of these sanctions represents “a crime against humanity” that places the North American nation “outside international law”.
“We might think that after the recurring failures of the US in its fantasy of overthrowing (president) Nicolás Maduro, arrogance and immorality would be things of the past. The only thing intact today is the will of our people to overcome the claims of imperialist vileness,” added Gil.
A spokesperson for the State Department told the EFE news agency that as long as “Maduro and his followers continue to repress the Venezuelan people and divert resources to corrupt practices,” the US will continue to “pressure the regime with sanctions.”
The US official urged Maduro to sit down with the opposition Unitary Platform to “solve the problems of Venezuela and restore democracy and the rule of law” in the Caribbean country.
“Our sanctions policy on Venezuela remains intact. We will continue to impose sanctions on Venezuela to support a return to democracy,” he said.
Last week Maduro asked his US counterpart, Joe Biden, to lift “all sanctions” applied against Venezuela, which he considered “criminal.”
Source: AFP and EFE
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