Miss Venezuela contest peppered with sexual favors scandals
Beauty is not everything. The refrain seems to inspire a moral crusade undertaken by the Miss Venezuela contest, punctuated by accusations of corruption and sexual favors among ex-contestants. The organization in charge of the emblematic beauty contest Miss Venezuela announced that it entered into "revision" and temporarily suspended its activities, after a series of accusations in social networks between competitors in the contest, said a business unit of the Cisneros group.
A group of former participants of the Venezuelan beauty reign in the last month held a debate on social networks about what they implied was unethical behavior of their colleagues at the event, with accusations that they were linked to businessmen and senior officials to benefit, opening the controversy on how the misses subsist. Pride of this country considered a factory of Queens, the contest was in the public pillory for accusations and insults that showed the worst face of those who formerly squandered sympathy.
The scandal erupted in early March after the broadcast of images of the exmiss Zoraya Villarreal in acts with a foundation of businessman Diego Salazar, arrested for a corruption case involving his cousin Rafael Ramírez, once the powerful head of state oil company PDVSA. The publication unleashed a strong cross of insults in social networks among a dozen exmisses and television cheerleaders, including Annarella Bono, who defended Villarreal. Bono hinted that other exparticipants would be involved in corruption and sexual favors.
The competition officials said they suspended the recruitment of misses until further notice for a contest that is traditionally held at the end of the year. "Faced with the events described recently through social networks, anonymous blogs and by some people who had relations with Miss Venezuela, the decision has been made to initiate an internal review," the organization said in the statement. The objective is "to determine whether any of its related, during his management, have engaged in activities that violate the values and ethics of the event," added the text, without mentioning any names or specific details.
The Organization, which is part of the group of companies owned by the wealthy Cisneros family, owners of a private television channel opened in the country, announced that it will work in parallel in the "restructuring of the event". It was not immediately clear if this year they will stop choosing the Miss Venezuela, in a program that airs in the South American country and other parts of the world. Venezuela has 13 crowns in global beauty pageants such as Miss Universe and Miss World, which has earned it a reputation for having beautiful women.