Fluoroscopy | The Miss and the Dictator

Even beauty pageants are political. Talk to the new Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios, who has become the symbol of the anti-government struggle in Nicaragua.

Why are we talking about it

On November 18, Nicaraguan Sheynnis Palacios became the first Central American to win the Miss Universe pageant. She also became, in the process, the new symbol of the fight against the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, whose muscular regime is increasingly contested.

What happened

The coronation of Sheynnis Palacios had a cathartic effect on the Nicaraguan population. Thousands of people took to the streets of Managua and other cities across the country to celebrate his victory, something not seen since gatherings were banned five years ago. In the images, hundreds of blue and white Nicaraguan flags can be seen flying amid cries of joy. A detail which is not trivial, since these flags are considered the symbol of the anti-government struggle, as opposed to the red and black of the Sandinista Front party in power.

A political twist

These images of jubilation quickly took on a political meaning, in a country where repression has caused a real exodus in recent years. “I am so happy to see the joy of the Nicaraguans and to see them taking the clandestine blue and white into the streets. Thanks to Sheynnis…” said writer Gioconda Belli, exiled in Spain and stripped of her nationality by the Ortega government last February.

A past as a protester?

The beauty queen has never openly expressed her opposition to the government. But her past seems destined to be used by the opposition. She studied social communication at the Jesuit Central American University (UCA), closed last August by the government which described it as a “center of terrorism”. Witnesses say they saw her participate in anti-government protests which were bloodily repressed in 2018, leaving more than 300 dead. There is even talk of photos posted on social networks, then removed, showing her with a blue and white flag. Some exiles even saw in her Miss dress (white with a blue cape resembling the mantle of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of Nicaragua) a symbol of anti-government demands and the defense of a Catholic Church “persecuted” by the system of government.

“Crude and malicious” exploitation

Unsurprisingly, the Ortega regime has not responded well to the pro-Sheynnis protests. “In these hours and days of new victories, we are witnessing crude exploitation and crude and malicious terrorist communication that aims to turn a beautiful, well-deserved moment of pride and celebration into destructive coups,” said Wednesday Vice President Rosario Murillo, wife of Daniel Ortega. Opposition media, exiled in neighboring Costa Rica, also report that the police prevented two artists from completing a fresco representing the new Miss Universe in a street in the town of Estelí, in the north of the country. A photo of the unfinished work is circulating on social networks.

Symbol in spite of itself

M^me Palacios might have liked to celebrate his title differently. But for Nicaraguans in exile, his victory is seen as a “window of opportunity”. “To a certain point, it has been claimed as a symbol,” summarizes Kai M. Thaler, professor in the department of global studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. For the opposition, it is a moment of unity and hope. This helps draw attention to Nicaragua, which had fallen off the international radar a little with everything that is happening in Gaza, and the elections in Argentina and Guatemala. »

Repression, political crisis and other Miss

Nicaragua, led without interruption since 2007 by the former Sandinista guerrilla Daniel Ortega (also in power from 1979 to 1990), has been going through a serious political crisis since April 2018. An initial protest against a social security reform has transformed in a wave of demonstrations demanding the departure of the president, accused of having established a corrupt dictatorship, as well as early elections. According to Human Rights Watch, the government closed “more than 2,000” non-governmental organizations in 2022 and intensified its repression against members of the clergy. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have fled the country since 2018, and 222 political prisoners were forced into exile earlier this year.

Note: Sheynnis Palacios is not the first Nicaraguan beauty queen to become a political symbol. In 2021, former Miss Nicaragua Berenice Quezada, running mate of presidential candidate Óscar Sobalvarro, was arrested, placed under house arrest and prohibited from participating in the vote…

With Agence France-Presse, alencontre.org, UN Migrations, La Mesa Redonda and La Prensa