Nicaragua’s Miss Universe title win exposes country’s deep political divide

By GABRIELA SELSER
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua’s increasingly isolated and repressive government thought it had scored a rare PR 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 Sunday after the win quickly turned to angry condemnation. It emerged that Palacios apparently participated in the 2018 protests against the regime. Ordinary Nicaraguans took advantage of the Saturday night 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.