Rain, fist fights rule at Miss Universe

<a href=www.indianexpress.com>Agence France Presse Panama City, May 29: The 72 most beautiful women in the world have descended on Panama City for the June 3 Miss Universe pageant, but so far have had to brave downpours, paparazzi, protesting students, money problems and even a fist fight.

The contestants have been preparing here for a week to replace reigning Miss Panama — who was crowned in September after Miss Russia relinquished the title amid a swirl of reports about a secret marriage and pregnancy. The contestants’ every move have been shadowed by the tabloids, one of which reported that Miss Spain (Eva Maria Gonzalez) and her roommate Miss Colombia (Diana Lucia Mantilla) got into a fist fight over Gonzalez’s smoking habit.

The two girls were all smiles later when they publicly denied the report. Mantilla also drew attention when she gave fellow contestants copies of her rendition of the song, I Am Colombian.

Despite the constant downpours since they arrived, the contestants’ grueling daily schedule remains on track: banquets, fashion shows by local designers, charity auctions and a candelight vigil for aids victims. And all of the ‘‘Misses’’ are trailed by the paparazzi’s erupting flashes wherever they go. However, the beauty queens had to cancel some public event yesterday, when angry students took to the streets to protest tax reforms and the Miss Universe pageant itself.

Armed with rocks and sticks, the students blocked some main streets for eight hours. Several labour unions will hold street marches on Tuesday to protest the government’s tax reform and proposal to privatise the social security system.

The Miss Universe pageant world got an unexpected shock early on when it was announced that money problems could force Miss Venezuela out of the competition.

Venezuela’s pageant organisers announced they could not raise the $80,000 needed to send Mariangel Ruiz to Panama because of strict currency controls imposed in February. The money problem was later resolved, but Ruiz’s late arrival generated unwelcome media gossip, with some reports calling her delay a strategic maneouver to tip the scales in Venezuela’s favour.