PANAMA CITY, Panama, June 4, 2003 Countdown to victory: Amelia Vega, Miss Dominican Republic (center), with soon-to-be first runner up Mariangel Ruiz, Miss Venezuela (left), and Miyako Miyazaki, Miss Japan, who was 4th runner up. (AP) Miss Venezuela, 22-year-old Mariangel Ruiz, was the Cinderella of the contest and was almost unable to participate in the pageant, because of financial problems in Venezuela. A donor finally turned up to meet the costs of her trip.

(AP) Amelia Vega, a second-generation beauty queen from the Dominican Republic, was crowned Miss Universe 2003 on Tuesday night.

Vega, 6-foot-1, smiled and waved to the crowd as outgoing titleholder Justine Pasek of Panama slipped the crown on the head during a ceremony at U.S. military base-turned-convention center in Panama.

Vega is the niece of famed merengue singer Juan Luis Guerra and the daughter of her country's representative in the 1980 Miss World pageant.

She said she too hopes to be a singer. In an entry statement to the organizing committee, she said that "music is a direct way to communicate with all the people without any race or ideological differences."

The first runner up was Miss Venezuela, the Cinderella of the contest: 22-year-old Mariangel Ruiz almost couldn't come to the competition because of financial problems in her home country. A donor finally turned up to meet the costs of her trip.

Second-runner up was South Africa's Cindy Nell, 21, a tourism promoter.

Miss Serbia and Montenegro, Sanja Papic, was third runner up and Miss Japan, Miyako Miyazaki, was fourth.

The show opened with the 72 contestants, in colorful tropical skirts and tops, introducing themselves before colonial-era buildings on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.

The contest drew an estimated 600 million television viewers as well as nearly 7,000 Panamanians in formal wear to the new Figali Convention Center, which was recently built at the old Fort Amador, one of several military bases the United States had here as part of its Canal Zone enclave for decades.

"I am excited and anxious. I have been preparing for this for ten months," Vega before the contest.

Kai Davis of Antigua and Barbuda was named Miss Congeniality. Miss Puerto Rico, Carla Tricoli, was named Miss Photogenic.

The event gave Panama a few minutes of prime time to promote itself as a new tourist destination after decades of living under the shadow of the U.S. military, which left the country and handed over the canal on December 31, 1999.

Panama wanted to show the world it is a changed country since last hosting the pageant in 1986 under the military dictatorship of Gen. Manuel Noriega and with U.S. troops guarding the Panama Canal.

Last year, for the first time, Panama's annual income from tourism - $678 million - surpassed revenues from the canal.

On Tuesday, Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro presented the keys to the city to real estate developer and investor Donald Trump, the half-owner of the Miss Universe parent organization.

"Panama is a great country, and I'm going to come back," said Trump.

Tuesday's finals were hosted by television personalities Daisy Fuentes and Billy Bush.

Tue June 3, 2003 11:24 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - A baby girl was killed and several dozen people were reported missing in western Venezuela on Tuesday after mudslides and rockfalls caused by torrential rain destroyed several homes and blocked a main highway, civil defense officials said.

The heavy rains brought down torrents of mud and boulders, hitting hamlets and isolated homes in the mountainous Andean state of Merida and the neighboring state of Barinas.

"There were several mudslides," the director of Venezuela's Civil Protection Service, Antonio Rivero, told Reuters. He said at least 15 homes had been destroyed or damaged.

One rockslide cut the main trans-Andean highway between the state capitals of Merida and Barinas. Merida state governor Florencio Porras had declared a state of emergency, local television said.

Rivero said rescue workers had recovered the body of a one-year-old baby girl and were searching for more victims.

But information about casualties was sketchy because of the remoteness of the area where the mudslides had occurred.

Rivero said he had received initial reports of 14 people missing in Merida state and 37 missing in Barinas but he stressed authorities were not counting these as victims yet.

Local television put the number of missing between 35 and 40 and showed footage of homes and vehicles crushed by mud and rocks.

In December, 1999, at least 10,000 people were killed in massive mudslides triggered by torrential rain that swept through coastal towns and villages in the central Venezuelan states of Vargas and Miranda.

Posted: 11:24 AM (Manila Time) | Jun. 04, 2003 Agence France-Presse

PANAMA CITY -- Amelia Vega, an 18-year-old student from the Dominican Republic, was crowned Miss Universe 2003 late Tuesday.

Miss Venezuela, Maria Angel Ruiz, 23, was the first runner-up. Reigning Miss Universe Justine Pasek of Panama placed a 250,000-dollar crown of diamonds and pearls on Vega's head.

Representatives from 72 countries took the stage earlier at the contest held at a brand new convention center in Amador, a former US military base at the Pacific Ocean entrance to the Panama Canal.

ELOY O. AGUILAR, Associated Press Writer Tuesday, June 3, 2003
(06-03) 23:17 PDT PANAMA CITY, Panama (<a href=www.sfgate.com>AP) --

There were no tears of joy, just the confident smile of a winner when 18-year-old Miss Dominican Republic, Amelia Vega, was crowned Miss Universe 2003.

A 6-foot-1 aspiring singer, the niece of merengue musician Juan Luis Guerra, Vega accepted the crown from outgoing titleholder Justine Pasek of Panama on Tuesday night.

"God has been my strength all along," the brunette told a news conference immediately after her triumph at a U.S. military base-turned-convention center.

Tuesday's finals were hosted by television personalities Daisy Fuentes and Billy Bush -- who is President Bush's cousin.

Asked if she was nervous when she stood alone with co-finalist Mariangel Ruiz of Venezuela after 70 other contestants were eliminated, Vegas said, "No, I just said, 'God, whatever is going to be, let it be."'

Vega's mother competed for the Miss World title in 1980.

Cindy Nell, a South African tourism promoter, was the second runner up, followed by Miss Serbia and Montenegro Sanja Papic and Miss Japan Miyako Miyazaki.

Dropping out after reaching the top 10 were representatives from Trinidad and Tobago, the Czech Republic, Namibia, Canada and Brazil. An earlier cut took out Misses USA, Greece, Panama, Angola and Peru.

Kai Davis of Antigua and Barbuda was named Miss Congeniality. Miss Puerto Rico, Carla Tricoli, was named Miss Photogenic.

The event gave Panama a chance to promote its new image as a tourist destination after decades of living under the shadow of the U.S. military, which protected the Panama Canal until Dec. 31, 1999.

An estimated 600 million television viewers and nearly 7,000 Panamanians watched the event at the new Figali Convention Center, built on the former U.S. base known as Fort Amador.

Hotels, restaurants, a marina and a $10 million convention center now adorn the former base.

Last year, for the first time, Panama's annual income from tourism -- $678 million -- surpassed revenues from the canal.

The jury included Maria Celeste Arraras of Telemundo TV; Deborah Carthy-Deu, the 1985 Miss Universe; Italian designer Roberto Cavalli; Richard Johnson of the Washington Post; professional model Audrey Quock; Peter Reckell of NBC's "Days of Our Lives;" professional model Fernanda Tavarez; Matthew St. Patrick of HBO's Six Feet Under series, and Amelia Marshall of NBC's "Passions" series.

Tue June 3, 2003 11:11 PM ET PANAMA CITY (<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters) - Miss Dominican Republic Amelia Vega, an 18-year-old high school student, won the Miss Universe 2003 title at a sparkling ceremony in Panama City on Tuesday, beating a field of 70 other pageant queens.

Miss Venezuela Mariangel Ruiz came second, followed by Miss South Africa Cindy Nell.

The winners were announced at the end of a gala night of parades in figure-hugging swimsuits and shimmering evening gowns in the $10 million Figali Convention Center on the banks of the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.