“They stole our Miss Universe!”: Nicolás Maduro, outraged that the US took the prize

The President of Venezuela, Niccolo Maduroshe joined the country’s wave of outrage over the national candidate’s defeat in the beauty pageant Miss Universeafter the triumph of the American R’Bonney Gabriel, and in a deed in Caracas denounced that the sentence was “a robbery”.

“They stole our Miss Universe, Amanda Dudamel won on the street, well it can’t be a robbery like that, she’s from Petare, she does community work there in Petare”, denounced a popular neighborhood in the capital, adding to the avalanche of criticisms for the result of the competition, an event of enormous importance in the Caribbean country.

Maduro’s fury seems an unusual derivation of his country’s fierce confrontation with the United States, although both sides have shown signs of rapprochement since last year.

Although weeks ago the Chavist leader said he was willing to talk with Washington, this week the two governments clashed again, when a US Foreign Ministry spokesman said that for now the policy of sanctions against the country will remain ” intact”. South American.

The fight for Miss Universe

Stylist and social activist, Amanda Dudamel, daughter of the former coach of 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 which took place on Saturday.

Dudamel, 23, was the first runner-up at the Miss Universe pageant held in New Orleans, USA, which sparked controversial reactions questioning the verdict.

Without alluding to the criticisms 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 followers of the contest that gave 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 of the world who have joined this journey of illusion”, was part of the message on Instagram which has received nearly half a million likes.

Texas Rep R’Bonney Gabriel is 28 years old and a sustainable stylist.

Venezuela hasn’t 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 again became tense this week over foreign policy reasons.

On Monday, the Venezuelan government rejected statements made by a spokesman for the US State Department on maintaining the policy of sanctions against the South American country “intact” until concrete steps are taken for the “return of democracy”.

“Venezuela rejects the statements of the State Department which reaffirms the continuity of its failed policy of aggression through unilateral coercive measures,” Foreign Minister Yván Gil said on his Twitter account.

He stressed that the application of these sanctions represents “a crime against humanity” which places the US nation “outside international law”.

“We might think that after the recurring failures of the United States 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 imperialism claims cowardice,” added Gil.

A State Department spokesman told EFE news agency that as long as “Maduro and his followers continue to repress the Venezuelan people and divert resources to corrupt practices,” the United States will continue to “press the regime with sanctions.”

The US official urged Maduro to sit down with the opposition’s United Platform to “solve Venezuela’s problems and restore democracy and the rule of law” in the Caribbean country.

“Our sanctions policy against 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 considers “criminal”.

Source: AFP and EFE

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