More international than ever, Hispanic-American Queen 2017 resumes this Saturday
Launched in 1991 by Promociones Gloria, Hispanic-American Queen, or Reina Hispanoamericana, the most important regional beauty pageant produced in Latin America, is getting bigger: in addition to Spanish speaking nations, Brazil, North America and the French and Dutch Caribbean, guest nations such as Philippines, Portugal and Australia, joined the competition in 2017.
The candidates spent over two weeks in colorful and culture rich Bolivia in a series of activities, media interviews and participation in local television shows. They spent some time in the capital city of La Paz but as usual, the final event will happen in Santa Cruz, on November 4th.
Many of the competitors are pageant veterans, like the home town girl, Miss Bolivia, Katherine Añazgo, who competed in Miss International 2016, Brazil´s Laís Berte, vice-Miss Eco 2016, Valentina Schnitzel of Chile, who took part in Miss Supranational 2015, and Lorena Lavivierre of Peru, Miss Supranational Peru 2015.
Teresita Marquez, the first ever representative of the Philippines in this contest, is a famous actress back home who placed 2nd in Miss World Philippines 2017.
In addition to the above mentioned beauties, other favorites usually cited by the local press are Cuba, Venezuela, Panama, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Mexico.
"It is probably the strongest group of candidates we have ever had. There are many strong candidates who could win the crown", said Tatiana Limpias, one of the directors of Promociones Gloria.
The fact that some non-Spanish speakers joined the pageant this year caused some controversy among the Latin community, but Limpias made it clear that the idea behind this expansion is to promote the rich Hispanic culture in other areas of the planet as well. In 2018, more guest countries could join the competition.
The winner will be crowned by Maria Camila Soleibe of Colombia, the 2016 winner. It will be telecast to Bolivia and some other countries, live from Salón Sirionó Fexpocruz, in Santa Cruz, by Red Uno de Bolivia (webcast will also be available).