Sheynnis Alondra Palacios Cornejo became the winner of the 2023 Miss Universe edition held at the Gimnasio Nacional José Adolfo Pineda in El Salvador on Saturday, November 18. Since then, controversy surrounding her relationship with the Nicaraguan government led by President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo has been a hot topic.
The situation began days after the 23-year-old journalist and model was crowned, when sports journalist and former political prisoner Miguel Mendoza revealed on his X account that the government had ordered Palacios to be denied entry into the country just hours before the final. However, the measure was suspended after her victory.
LA DICTADURA ORDENÓ EL VIERNES A AVIANCA NO ABORDAR A @sheynnispalacio EN EL VUELO DE REGRESO A NICARAGUA, PERO AYER CAMBIARON DE DECISIÓN.
El viernes la dictadura ordenó a la línea aérea AVIANCA que no abordara a la pasajera Sheynnis Alondra Palacios Cornejo en el vuelo de… pic.twitter.com/FzszOZTkUw
— Miguel Mendoza (@Mmendoza1970) November 19, 2023
«The dictatorship ordered Avianca not to board @SheynnisPalacios on the flight back to Nicaragua on Friday, but yesterday they changed their decision,» Mendoza said.
Despite the visit from authorities of President Ortega to the family of the new Miss Universe to extend their congratulations, the situation regarding Palacios’ relationship with the government seems to be tense. Photos of the queen participating in marches for various events happening in her country have gone viral on social media, which appears to have angered the leader.
On Thursday, November 23, it was reported that authorities in Nicaragua prohibited the artists Kevin Laguna Guevara and Oscar Danilo Parrilla, better known on social media as Vink Art and Torch Místico, from creating a mural in honor of the first Nicaraguan Miss Universe.
«The mural has been canceled. People interpreted it as a political message. That’s where the mural ended. We intended to finish it and we kept our word, but the authorities did not allow us to continue,» the artists reported.
👇 https://t.co/d6eBCjDfva
— Miguel Mendoza (@Mmendoza1970) November 21, 2023
But the situation does not end there. It was also reported in the press that the government prohibited the entry of Karen Celebertti, the national director of Miss Universe Nicaragua. According to information provided by renowned Venezuelan Missology expert Julio Rodríguez Matute, the pageant’s organizer arrived in the country with her daughter on Thursday afternoon but were forced by the authorities to return to Mexico, where they were fulfilling commitments with the international competition.
As of now, Celebertti has not officially commented on the exile she and her daughter have been subjected to, and whether the same could happen to the current queen of universal beauty.
Source: Meridiano
