Miss Venezuela to compete in beauty pageant after all
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
(05-20) 18:47 PDT (AP) -- NY194
CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=www.sfgate.com>AP) -- After claiming it couldn't afford to participate in the Miss Universe contest, the Miss Venezuela organization confirmed Tuesday its contestant will take the stage after all.
Venezuelan media magnate Gustavo Cisneros, head of the Cisneros Group, will pay for Mariangel Ruiz to attend the June 3 event in Panama, the organization confirmed in a statement on its Web site.
"Venezuela will participate in the annual Miss Universe pageant," the organization said. Officials couldn't immediately be reached by telephone late Tuesday.
Venezuela has one of the world's best records at international beauty competitions. Since 1979, Venezuelan women have won four Miss Universe titles, five Miss Worlds and three Miss Internationals.
The organization claimed last week that Venezuela's strict foreign exchange controls, imposed by President Hugo Chavez during a general strike in January, prevented it from obtaining $80,000 needed to send Miss Ruiz, a tall, 23-year-old brunette, to the pageant.
Miss Venezuela President Osmel Sousa said the organization had the funds in the local bolivar currency but could not exchange them for dollars.
Edgar Hernandez, president of the government agency in charge of authorizing dollar sales, said last week he wasn't aware that the organization had applied for the dollars. He said the agency would consider granting the funds if the organization asked for them.
Officials at Miss Venezuela sponsor Venevision television -- owned by the Cisneros Group -- declined to comment last week. On its Web site Tuesday, Venevision stood by its original claim that Venezuela's economic woes threatened Miss Ruiz's candidacy.
Cisneros and Chavez have long been at odds. Cisneros claims Chavez's government is cracking down on press freedom; Chavez claims Cisneros has been involved in efforts to destabilize his government.
On the Net:
www.missvenezuela.com
noticiero.venevision.net