Cuban beauty queen wins Miss Ecuador 2025 pageant. They just made her a citizen
Gisselle Rosales Sánchez, a Cuban who arrived in Ecuador at age 7, was crowned Miss Ecuador 2025 and will represent the country at Miss International 2026, to be held in Japan in November next year.
Rosales emigrated with her mother, aunt and uncle to Machala, a city in the southwest part of the country and the capital of El Oro province, which earned its name for large gold deposits and today is one of the world’s largest banana exporters.
She obtained Ecuadorian citizenship Sept. 15 by a decree of “relevant services” signed by President Daniel Noboa, which will allow her to compete in Miss International 2026.
The document recognizes her contributions in the social and cultural spheres and describes her as a role model for her efforts and virtues, the Ecuadorian outlet El Universo reported.
The young woman, who studied psychology and early childhood education, came with her mother to Ecuador when the country was offering visa-free entry for Cubans.
“I don’t like to talk about political issues. My mom, Aliuska Sánchez, had to migrate because of the difficult situation in Cuba, because of the regime,” Rosales told the Ecuadorian outlet Primicias.
She said that her mother was a lawyer in Cuba and that upon arriving in Ecuador she had to work as a domestic employee and dishwasher in restaurants. Later, she earned a master’s degree in Education and began working in that field.
“My migrant background, not being in my birth country, helped me understand the needs of the most vulnerable groups,” Rosales said about the experience she can bring to her role as Miss Ecuador 2025. “It’s hard to arrive somewhere where you don’t know anyone and you’re alone, which happened to my mom. I admire that she was able to do it and give my sister and me a quality education.”
A beauty queen from the cradle
Rosales showed interest in beauty contests very early and began by participating in the Festival de Mini Reina del Banano, Primicias reported. She continued her career in modeling and beauty pageants and was chosen Reina de Machala in 2022 and Reina de El Oro in 2024.
For her merits, Rosales received a call from María del Carmen de Aguayo, director of Miss Ecuador, who describes her as “a young woman of values with great respect for Ecuador, a country she has represented and promoted with pride even before wearing a sash.”
In a statement, Aguayo explained that when they met Rosales, the organization learned she had arrived in the country as a child and was in the process of obtaining her citizenship.
Ecuador’s representative at Miss International 2025, which will be held this November in Tokyo, is Eunice Rivadeneira, Miss Ecuador 2024, who competed for Guayaquil.
Nadía Mejía represents Ecuador at Miss Universe
Ecuador’s representative at Miss Universe this year, Miss Universe Ecuador 2025, Nadía Mejía, also was not born in Ecuador but in California. Although she is from an Ecuadorian family, her father is musician and actor Gerardo Mejía, known as “Rico Suave,” and currently a pastor of a Christian congregation in Kentucky.
Nadia, 29, participated in the contest representing the Ecuadorian community abroad. Last year she finished second and many noted that her Spanish was not very strong, which she took as a challenge to improve it.
Her experience is similar to that of Miss Universe Cuba 2025, Lina Luaces Estefan, who was born in Miami to Cuban parents. Luaces and Nadía Mejía will meet in Thailand in November at the international pageant.
While some people on social media and Cuban state media claimed Luaces should not represent Cuba, her case and that of Miss Universe Ecuador 2025 just reinforces that the Miss Universe pageant is open to allowing a contestant to represent a country she wasn’t born in when she has strong ties to it.
