Miami will host Miss Universe Nicaragua for the first time
Miss Universe Nicaragua is the latest pageant to make its home in Miami.
Local company, Emporium Agency, obtained the rights to the pageant franchise from the Miss Universe organization last week.
Nicaragua’s new beauty queen will be crowned at a gala in Miami in July, then head to the Miss Universe pageant on Nov. 21 in Thailand.
Indiana Sánchez, a Nicaraguan beauty queen and businesswoman raised in Miami, was chosen to manage Miss Universe Nicaragua.
Sánchez, who represented Nicaragua in the 2009 Miss Universe pageant held in the Bahamas, said that registration for Miss Universe Nicaragua opened on May 14 for one month at missuniversenic.com.
Pageant rules state that young women over 18 years of age who were born in Nicaragua or whose grandparents or parents are Nicaraguan are eligible to participate, Sánchez said, emphasizing that the auditions are virtual, so applicants from both within Nicaragua and abroad are eligible to compete.
What it takes to be Miss Universe Nicaragua
Sánchez, who finished second in the Miss Universe national costume parade, is very clear about what the team she works with will look for in the contestants. They trained her country’s most successful queen, Miss Universe 2023 Sheynnis Palacios, who visited more than 30 countries during her reign.
“I want a girl who’s proud to be Nicaraguan, but we’re also looking for a girl who is dedicated, who is disciplined. Perseverance is very important, she must work for what she wants,” said Sánchez, who has a master’s degree in Business Administration from Florida International University (FIU).
Miss Universe Nicaragua also needs to have her own voice, be a leader, and have a positive influence on the younger generation, Sánchez said, noting that having a social project is highly valued.
The businesswoman, born in Altagracia, Managua, came to the United States in 1998, at the age of 10, with her mother, who was seeking “better opportunities,” she recalled.
It was the year she returned to Nicaragua to live full-time when she was a student that she reconnected with her country and decided to enter the Miss Universe contest.
She impressed the judges with the colorful traditional costume designed by Edwin Mendieta, which represented the Masaya volcano, one of the seven active volcanoes in the country.
“The costume was black, which refers to the dormant volcano, and when you opened it, you saw the eruption,” Sánchez said.
In spite of the distance, Nicaragua is always present to Sánchez. She makes nacatamales with her family at least once a month, listens to the marimba while cleaning her house, and says she is proud to have been born in Nicaragua because “we are small but big at the same time.”
“When we get up, we keep going,” she explained. “We are persevering, humble, but at the same time, we are proud of where we are from. We are also kind and help each other.”
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The dream of a Nicaraguan businessman
Emporium Agency was established in Miami by businessman Javier Paxtor, owner of El Guacalito. The restaurant, located in southwest Miami, is the official sponsor of Miss Universe Nicaragua.
Daniel Guevara, executive director of Miss Universe Nicaragua and Emporium Agency, said that securing the franchise from the international Miss Universe organization was the result of the trust they had earned through their efforts.
“We provided [contestants] support with coaching, catwalk shows, and dresses so they could attend the pageant and represent Nicaragua,” said Guevara, noting that the most important milestone was when Palacios won the Miss Universe title.
“When the final goal was achieved, we wanted to say that we were part of that project, that we contributed so much. That’s when we said, ‘We need to form an organization so people can see and say that we’ve done a good job,’” he recalled.
Guevara recalled the contagious enthusiasm at El Guacalito when it was announced that Palacios was among the top five, and then that she had won the crown. The restaurant also hosted several pageant queens in October, including Victoria Kjær Theilvig, who won Miss Universe 2024.
Miss Nicaragua outside the country
Palacios was the last Miss Nicaragua to be chosen in Nicaragua. After her win at Miss Universe and the massive celebrations that brought Nicaraguans to the streets, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo began harassing Karen Celebertti, director of the Miss Nicaragua organization, accusing her of conspiracy and treason, and detaining her husband and son.
Celebertti ended up in exile, and the next queen, Geyssell García, Miss Universe Nicaragua 2024, was chosen by the international Miss Universe organization for her experience in other beauty pageants such as Miss Teen Tourism and Miss World Nicaragua. García represented Nicaragua at the Miss Universe pageant held in Mexico, where she was placed among the Top 30.
Rosario Murillo later created a beauty pageant within the country, Reinas de Nicaragua (Queens of Nicaragua,) and appointed her daughter, Camila Ortega Murillo, as its director.
Miss Universe Pageants in Miami
Political actions of this kind, such as Fidel Castro’s decision to ban beauty pageants in Cuba in 1960, have benefited Miami.
In April 2024, Venezuelan designer and beauty pageant expert Prince Julio César secured the Miss Universe Cuba franchise from the international organization.
After 57 years without participating as a country in Miss Universe, a queen chosen in Miami, Marianela Ancheta, represented Cuba in Miss Universe last year.
This year, the search for a Cuban queen began early, and the 20 official candidates who will compete for the Miss Universe Cuba 2025 crown in July in Hialeah are already selected.
Telemundo is also organizing a reality show, Miss Universe Latina, in which a queen will be chosen to represent the Latinos of the United States in the Miss Universe 2025 pageant.
This means that four queens will come from the United States for Miss Universe: the queen representing Nicaragua, the queen representing Cuba, Miss USA, and Miss Universe Latina.
To register for the virtual castings, visit the Miss Universe Nicaragua website: missuniversenic.com
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 6:14 PM.
