Pro-coup Venezuelan media magnate used Miss Universe pageant for politics

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 By: Eric Jackson

The Panama News editor Eric Jackson reports: In a "controversy" that lasted a few days, it was announced in Caracas that Miss Venezuela wouldn't be attending the Miss Universe pageant here because her country's economic and political crisis would not allow it.

The Venezuelan part of Miss Universe is owned by Gustavo Cisneros, the billionaire golfing and fishing buddy of former US president George H. W. Bush and owner of the Miami-based Univision cable network and the Venezuelan Venevision TV network.

Venevision has, for most of the past year, stopped taking commercial advertising, as part of the opposition's attempt to shut down the Venezuelan economy.

In April of 2002, Venevision urged viewers to march on the Presidential Palace and overthrow President Hugo Chavez Frias ... after violence broke Chavez was abducted and a would-be Chamber of Commerce/military junta briefly declared itself to be in power.

Here in Panama, the commercial media reported the Cisneros organization's claim that Miss Venezuela couldn't attend because of currency export controls imposed by the government ... without mentioning Cisneros's role in the dispute or noting that, in fact, the billionaire with ample assets already outside Venezuela was by no means too broke to send his candidate to the pageant.

• Within Venezuela, opposition media blamed Chavez for ruining Venezuela's Miss Universe hopes, while Chavez supporters sneered at the political ploy.

In the end, it seemed that most Venezuelans were not convinced by Cisneros' tactic and Miss Venezuela flew to Panama in a private plane to sign in for the competition after all.

The Panama News www.thepanamanews.com