She'll take the town by storm
December 19, 2023 9:15 PM Subscribe
Nicaragua’s dictator goes after Miss Universe As Nicaragua has marched steadily toward dictatorship in recent years, its government has attacked opposition politicians, the Catholic Church, journalists and universities. Now it’s going after the beauty queens.
Just when authorities appeared to have squelched all forms of dissent, a willowy 23-year-old Nicaraguan, Sheynnis Palacios, won the Miss Universe pageant on Nov. 18. People poured into the streets of the Central American country in jubilation. The government initially praised the victory — then photos emerged of Palacios taking part in mass anti-government protests in 2018, which were eventually crushed by security forces.
On Friday night, Nicaraguan police accused the family that operates the country’s Miss Universe franchise of “conspiring against the nation.” A police statement said Karen Celebertti, a former beauty queen who has run the Miss Nicaragua contest since 2001, had used “spaces supposedly dedicated to promoting ‘innocent’ beauty pageants,” in a foreign-backed plot to boost the opposition. Her husband and son were also named in the complaint.
Also expelled or imprisoned in recent years include: Red Cross, Catholic Bishop Rev. Rolando Álvarez, and news organizations.
Just when authorities appeared to have squelched all forms of dissent, a willowy 23-year-old Nicaraguan, Sheynnis Palacios, won the Miss Universe pageant on Nov. 18. People poured into the streets of the Central American country in jubilation. The government initially praised the victory — then photos emerged of Palacios taking part in mass anti-government protests in 2018, which were eventually crushed by security forces.
On Friday night, Nicaraguan police accused the family that operates the country’s Miss Universe franchise of “conspiring against the nation.” A police statement said Karen Celebertti, a former beauty queen who has run the Miss Nicaragua contest since 2001, had used “spaces supposedly dedicated to promoting ‘innocent’ beauty pageants,” in a foreign-backed plot to boost the opposition. Her husband and son were also named in the complaint.
Also expelled or imprisoned in recent years include: Red Cross, Catholic Bishop Rev. Rolando Álvarez, and news organizations.
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist...
posted by fairmettle at 11:47 PM on December 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist...
posted by fairmettle at 11:47 PM on December 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Donald Trump owned the Miss Universe pageant for almost 20 years, until 2015.
posted by briank at 4:38 AM on December 20, 2023
posted by briank at 4:38 AM on December 20, 2023
Man, Ortega really took a turn. He's a psychotic despot. I revoke his sandinista-ship.
posted by j_curiouser at 4:41 AM on December 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 4:41 AM on December 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
Ortega is a thing. He honestly did seem to try to do a good job as a leftist leader after being elected in 1984, implementing lots of popular socialist programs, in spite of a whole lot of US interference in Nicaraguan politics. And then he's just been hanging on ever since, slowly betraying everything he claimed to believe in. And now he's just another authoritarian dictator beating up on his critics.
on preview--what j_curiouser said much more succinctly
posted by hydropsyche at 4:43 AM on December 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
on preview--what j_curiouser said much more succinctly
posted by hydropsyche at 4:43 AM on December 20, 2023 [6 favorites]
Showing the country's flag is seen as a form of protest...?
Meanwhile in the USA people print the flag in the wrong colors and use it as a more-American-than-thou fetish symbol and print it on anything from bumper stickers to bikinis and this is totally fine
posted by caution live frogs at 6:10 AM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Meanwhile in the USA people print the flag in the wrong colors and use it as a more-American-than-thou fetish symbol and print it on anything from bumper stickers to bikinis and this is totally fine
posted by caution live frogs at 6:10 AM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios wins Miss Universe crown (AP, November 19)
The beauty queen who terrifies a dictator (Boston Globe, November 30)
How Nicaragua's first Miss Universe became a dictator's nightmare (MSNBC, December 17)
posted by box at 7:00 AM on December 20, 2023
The beauty queen who terrifies a dictator (Boston Globe, November 30)
How Nicaragua's first Miss Universe became a dictator's nightmare (MSNBC, December 17)
posted by box at 7:00 AM on December 20, 2023
I assume that many books and dissertations have been written about the toxic, addictive effects of power on leaders who come to power on idealistic or progressive crusades, from Marion Barry to Evo Morales to…
Ortega started out with a noble mission: to build Nicaragua up from the state to which it had sunk during the 60-plus years of the poisonous Somoza regime. That he has ended up doing a heel turn seems inevitable given precedent and history worldwide.
posted by the sobsister at 8:24 AM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Ortega started out with a noble mission: to build Nicaragua up from the state to which it had sunk during the 60-plus years of the poisonous Somoza regime. That he has ended up doing a heel turn seems inevitable given precedent and history worldwide.
posted by the sobsister at 8:24 AM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Can I see some Mefites come to the realization that he was a POS all along?
Those revelations don't just apply to right wing strongmen
posted by ocschwar at 12:17 PM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Those revelations don't just apply to right wing strongmen
posted by ocschwar at 12:17 PM on December 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by pracowity at 10:01 PM on December 19, 2023 [1 favorite]