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Nicaragua bars pageant head after Ortega critic wins Miss Universe: media

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="IMG Universe, LLC dba and MISS UNIVERSE,LLP" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/11/19/20231119-miss-universe-2023.jpg"/><figcaption>IMG Universe, LLC dba and MISS UNIVERSE,LLP</figcaption></figure></div><p>San José, Costa Rica - Nicaraguan authorities have barred the director of the national beauty pageant from re-entering the country after a Nicaraguan woman seen as a symbol of opposition to the government was crowned Miss Universe, media reports and exiled opposition members said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/11/19/23/nicaragua-wins-miss-universe-2023-ph-bet-in-top-10">Nicaragua wins first Miss Universe crown; PH bet Michelle Dee in Top 10</a></li></ul><p>Karen Celebertti and her daughter were detained upon their arrival at the Managua airport -- days after seeing 23-year-old Sheynnis Palacios crowned as the first Miss Universe from Nicaragua -- and placed on a flight to Mexico, the opposition-linked La Prensa newspaper reported.</p><p>The government &quot;blocked Karen Celebertti, owner of the Miss Nicaragua franchise, and her daughter from entering the country,&quot; the Costa Rica-based Nicaraguan daily said on its web site.</p><p>It was unclear on what grounds Celebertti, a Nicaraguan national, was barred entry. The government has made no comment on the matter.</p><p>The writer Gioconda Belli, who lives in Spain after being stripped of her Nicaraguan nationality by the government, contended that Celebertti was blocked at the orders of President Daniel Ortega&#x27;s wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, despite her success in helping a Nicaraguan win the prestigious contest.</p><p>Opposition media also reported that Celebertti&#x27;s Managua home had been searched Friday and her husband, Martin Arguello, briefly detained.</p><p>In a statement to AFP, the Miss Universe Organization called on the Nicaraguan government to &quot;ensure&quot; the safety of those associated with the local affiliates of the pageant.</p><p>&quot;We are working to ensure the safety of everyone affiliated with the organization, and we appeal to the Nicaraguan government to ensure their safety as well as they comply with requests,&quot; it said.</p><p>Since Palacios was crowned Miss Universe on November 18 in San Salvador, she has been widely portrayed as a symbol of opposition to Ortega.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rKm7lpZmpAA?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Photos showing her waving the Nicaraguan flag at anti-government protests in 2018 have gone viral, and her victory brought joyful crowds into Nicaragua&#x27;s streets in the biggest public displays since such gatherings were banned five years ago.</p><p>Murillo on Wednesday blasted the publication of such photos as &quot;malicious (and) terrorist communications that aim to transform a beautiful moment of pride and well-deserved celebration into a destructive coup.&quot;</p><p>The Nicaraguan opposition has portrayed Palacios&#x27; victory as a sign of hope. Some in the celebratory crowds waved the blue and white national flag, seen as a symbol of opposition, unlike the partisan red and black flag of the ruling Sandinista Front.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m so happy to see the joy of Nicaraguans and to see them bring out the clandestine blue and white... Thanks to Sheynnis,&quot; the writer Belli said on X, the former Twitter.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lwu8GO6_Ohs?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;National symbol&#x27; </strong></div><p>Opposition sources said that on Tuesday, government officials barred two artists from completing a mural of the new Miss Universe in the northern city of Esteli. Photos of the unfinished fresco have circulated on social media.</p><p>&quot;It is impossible to view this inoffensive contest without considering the political and social reality. She has become a national and emotional symbol who has restored hope. And the government understands this,&quot; prize-winning Nicaraguan journalist Wilfredo Miranda, who lives in exile in Costa Rica, told AFP.</p><p>Many exiles even viewed the outfit in which Palacios was crowned -- a flowing white dress with a blue cape resembling images of Nicaragua&#x27;s patron saint, the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception -- as symbolic amid a government crackdown on the Catholic Church.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/11/20/23/new-miss-universe-shares-tips-on-how-to-manage-anxiety">New Miss Universe shares tips on how to manage anxiety</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Thank you for bringing joy to our suffering people, thank you for giving us hope,&quot; Monsignor Silvio Baez, the auxiliary bishop of Managua, wrote on X. He lives in exile in the United States.</p><p>A government clampdown on the 2018 protests left more than 350 dead and more than 100,000 in exile. The government has since jailed hundreds of critics.</p><div><strong>&#x27;Miss Fritters&#x27; </strong></div><p>Palacios rose from a modest upbringing in the city of Diriamba, in Carazo department. She, her mother and grandmother started a business selling Nicaraguan sweet fried dough.</p><p>Before her victory, a pro-government television presenter had disdainfully nicknamed her &quot;Miss Fritters.&quot; Exiled Nicaraguan media have not forgotten.</p><p>Nor have they forgotten that she studied at the Central American University, a Jesuit school closed last August by the government as a &quot;center of terrorism.&quot;</p><p>The new Miss Universe, who left El Salvador on a multi-nation tour, has dedicated her victory to the six million Nicaraguans -- whether in the country or in exile.</p><div><strong>mis/fj/lab/rr/bbk/md/nro/st</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

Nicaraguan authorities have barred the director of the national beauty pageant from re-entering the country after a Nicaraguan woman seen as a symbol of opposition to the government was crowned Miss Universe.