Miss Universe title win exposes deep political divide in Nicaragua

MEXICO CITY

Nicaragua's increasingly isolated and repressive government thought it had scored a rare public relations victory last week when Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios won the Miss Universe competition.

But the "legitimate joy and pride” President Daniel Ortega's government expressed in a statement on Nov. 19 after the win quickly turned to angry condemnation, after it emerged that Palacios graduated from a college that was the center of 2018 protests against the regime and apparently participated in the marches.

Ordinary Nicaraguans, who are largely forbidden to protest or carry the national flag in marches, took advantage of the Miss Universe win as a rare opportunity to celebrate in the streets. Their use of the blue-and-white national flag, as opposed to Ortega's red-and-black Sandinista banner, didn't sit well with the government.

Palacios' victory - along with photos she posted on Facebook in 2018 of herself participating in the protests - overjoyed Nicaragua's opposition.

Roman Catholic Rev. Silvio Báez, one of dozens of priests who have been jailed or forced into exile by the government, congratulated Palacios in his social media accounts.

“Thank you for bringing joy to our long-suffering country!,” Báez wrote. “Thank you for giving us hope for a better future for our beautiful country!”

With clunky rhetoric reminiscent of North Korea, Vice president and First Lady Rosario Murillo lashed out on Nov. 22 at opposition social media sites (many run from exile) that celebrated Palacios' win as a victory for the opposition.

“In these days of a new victory, we are seeing the evil, terrorist commentators making a clumsy and insulting attempt to turn what should be a beautiful and well-deserved moment of pride into destructive coup-mongering,” Murillo said.

Palacios, who became the first Nicaraguan to win Miss Universe, has not commented on the situation.

During the contest, Palacios, 23, said she wants to work to promote mental health after suffering debilitating bouts of anxiety herself. She also said she wants to work to close the salary gap between the genders so that women can work in any area.