Miss Universe Cuba hopefuls put Miami in the spotlight

Who will be Miss Universe Cuba?

The opponents will compete in Miami in July. So far, 150 women have participated in the first round of auditions, and the second audition will be held on Friday, March 27 for hopefuls.

The winner will go on to compete in the 75th edition of the Miss Universe pageant, which will be held in November in Puerto Rico.

Two years after the Venezuelan inventor and lawyer, Prince Julio César, received the approval of Miss Universe Cuba, the contestants now have two models to follow in order to measure how to do the world pageant. Lina Luaces Estefan was placed among the semifinalists (Top 12) last year in Thailand, in one of the most controversial editions of Miss Universe in history, won by Fátima Bosch from Mexico.

In 2024, Marianela Ancheta – the first Miss Universe Cuba after fifty years of the country’s absence from the competition – made the Top 30. Ancheta surprised the audience with a provocative dress inspired by the Afro-Cuban god Oshún and the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, the patron saint of the country on November 4. 2024, Mexico City.

Requirements for Miss Universe Cuba 2026

Prince Julio César said the main requirement to compete in Miss Universe Cuba is that applicants must have been born in Cuba or be descendants of Cubans. They must also be at least 18 years old.

Individual interviews will be held on April 4, and the next selection steps will be announced on Miss Universe Cuba’s social media channels and on its website, missuniversecuba.org.

Competition prepares competitors for winning – and losing.

“Not winning the crown is not the end of the road, but a new opportunity,” said Prince Julio César, because the experience the contestants get can open doors in television, entertainment and modeling.

This year, they will also prepare contestants to better handle the heat on social media, he said. Miss Universe Cuba contestants can be attacked for being born – or not born – on the island, for example.

New and familiar faces among the contestants

The director of Miss Universe Cuba said he was happy with the applicants this year. “There are new faces and familiar faces in the community.”

Among the new faces are Karla Moreno, a coach who lives in Miami, and Maybet Paz, a nursing student who has spent four years living in Uruguay.

“I carry my island in my soul and the desire to see it free in my heart. Cuba is strength, talent and hope. May peace and freedom always be the way for our people. One day the welcome will be complete,” Paz wrote in a post on Instagram.

Mia Donadio Cancio, a contestant who placed in the top five of last year’s Miss Universe Cuba, returns for this edition. She is known on social media as Mia Dio, and with more than one million followers on Instagram, Mia was also chosen Miss Popularity as the most popular contestant in the Miss Universe Cuba pageants.

An International Relations graduate from Florida International University, Mia is the granddaughter of former Miami-Dade commissioner and businessman José “Pepe” Cancio, and her mother is attorney and political activist Marili Cancio. She has experience in other competitions, having participated in Nuestra Belleza Latina (Univision) in 2021.

The rebirth of the Miss Universe pageant

The Miss Universe 2025 pageant, which was held in Thailand, was surrounded by controversy. It started with the removal of Miss Universe Mexico Fátima Bosch in the days of the event before the competition, after a dispute with Nawat Itsaragrisil, who at the time was the director of Miss Global International and the director of Miss Universe Asia.

Several judges complained about the pageant’s lack of transparency, and eventually there were allegations of fraud regarding Bosch’s win as Miss Universe, which were denied by the pageant’s owner, Mexican businessman Raúl Rocha Cantú. Although Rocha Cantú later had legal problems in Mexico unrelated to this pageant, he is still one of the owners of Miss Universe.

Prince Julio César said it is impossible to deny the past problems of the competition, but one of the goals this year for the owners of the Miss Universe franchise should be to restore the legacy of the game that is now 75 years old.

“We must be reborn in reality, and with success and honor, choose women who continue to honor the title of Miss Universe,” said Prince Julio César.

Because the competition will be held in Puerto Rico, which is the host of Miss Universe for the fourth time, it is expected that there will be a great light on representatives from Latin American countries.

He said: “Our taste and our traditions will be there.” “The girls will have a wonderful life on a beautiful Caribbean island.”