Nicaragua has surprised the world by winning the Miss Universe contest for the first time. The hope and happiness that the crown brought to the people has awakened an ugly and aggressive response from the Sandinista dictatorship. The regime that rules the country with an iron fist is afraid and doesn’t know what to do.
Nicaragua’s politicized police force has charged Karen Celebertti, organizer of Miss Nicaragua, of terrorism, treason and organized crime, along with her husband, Martin Arguello, and her son, Bernardo Arguello Celebertti. All have been charged without reasons and without evidence.
the second half of the last century the dictatorships of Russia, China and Cuba prohibited and persecuted beauty pageants. They were considered vices of capitalism and a cancer that had to be eradicated at all costs.
Starting in 1960, the Castro dictatorship in Cuba censored all beauty contests, considering them “subtle weapons of the empire”, “ideological diversionism,” and obstacles to the birth of “the new man.” In 64 years, that new man was never born.
In 1959, the Soviet Union banned beauty competitions, considering them oligarchic frivolities. In 1988, with the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev, that finally ended. Beauty contests and other political, cultural and economic freedoms arrived.
In 2015, Anastasia Lin, Miss World Canada, was banned from participating in the pageant held in Sanya, China. Her criticism of her native country made her persona non grata and her family suffered brutal persecution by the Chinese Communist Party.
In 1979, the Sandinistas prevented, at gunpoint, Nicaragua’s participation in Miss Universe. Patricia Pineda was forced to desert the contest and return to Nicaragua after death threats were leveled at her family.
The crown that Sheynnis Palacios gave to Nicaragua restored hope to an oppressed people. Her humility, beauty and hard work showed that one can succeed without the blessing of tyrannical demigods.
Beyond fear and repression, the regime has not been able to decode the beauty queen’s empathy and popularity. All of Nicaragua took to the streets to celebrate the Miss Universe crown, carrying the national flag and not the symbols of blood and death.
Nervous and confused, dictator Daniel Ortega has sent his emissaries to visit the relatives of Palacios. He has pressed charges against the organizers of the beauty contest, promoting defamation campaigns and hate messages. Nothing has worked. The regime has not managed to steal the popularity of the people’s queen.
The National Police seized Miss Universe’s luggage, dresses, and makeup for five days. Media pressure caused the luggage to be returned to the beauty queen’s relatives in Managua. This is another example of the colossal paranoia of the Nicaraguan regime.
Juan Peppier, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch-Latin America, said: “We have seen a total demolition of freedoms and liberties. More than 300 people have been stripped of their nationality. Half of NGOs that existed have been shut down and there are still more than 80 political prisoners behind bars.”
Despite the repressive environment, Palacios has expressed her interest in returning to her homeland and embracing her people and loved ones. In a normal country, this would be a special day of celebration and joy. In Nicaragua, under a police state, this represents great danger and concern.
Daniel Ortega and his wife rule Nicaragua, arresting priests, confiscating universities, exiling journalists, writers and rock bands. They are a grotesque, unpopular and ugly dictatorship, threatened and overshadowed by the beauty of Miss Universe.
Beauty is dangerous to power.
Arturo McFields is an exiled journalist and a former Nicaragua ambassador to the Organization of American States. He also served in Norway’s Peace Corps.