by Olman Valle Hernández
Hundreds of Nicaraguans and Latinos who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, gathered since 7 a.m. on Thursday to meet in person the first most beautiful woman in Nicaragua who became Miss Universe 2023.
The Nicaraguan beauty went on a press tour to different media outlets in San Jose and San Francisco, then she met with the crowd who longed to meet her and give her all their support after being the first Nicaraguan to win the well-deserved title, not only for Nicaragua, but for all of Central America as Miss Universe 2023.
Palacios’ reception took place at the Nicaraguan restaurant Las Tinajas, a place that does not provide the appropriate conditions for an event like this magnitude because it is very small and not exclusive for the event due to its diners who arrived for their food deliveries.
Miss Universe entered the premises at 11:45 a.m., holding a meet & greet with city authorities and figures from the Latino community, a very secretive event that did not allow access to local San Francisco media and representatives of Latino women groups.
The organization called Chavalos.org and the owners of the Las Tinajas restaurant planned the meeting between Sheynnis and the Nicaraguan community in San Francisco, who from their social networks detailed that Miss Universe’s visit was in commemoration of International Women’s Day, as part of a public activity.
However, not everything was to the liking of her fans, who were not satisfied with the actions developed and improvised before, during and after the event since not everyone managed to meet her and take a souvenir of her home.
In the invitation advertisement, an activity for the general public was announced, however this was not the case; Miss Universe was expected at 11 in the morning, however she had a 50-minute delay upon her arrival.
Despite the massive line that her fans made from the door of the restaurant to around the corner of 20th and Mission St., not everyone managed to meet her in person and take their own photographs, since taking photos was prohibited with mobile phones, and there would be no form of autographs on flags or personalized details. It could only be done with the official Chávalos.org camera, representing a mockery for the majority of her fans who did not know the whereabouts of the photos.
The meeting between Miss Universe and her fans lasted around 2 hours, with the godmother of the Baptism and Palacios’s relatives directly organizing the entrance of the attendees.
Despite the large number of fans, they decided to implement a delivery of tickets, this being a terrible alternative to the avalanche of people, leaving out those who arrived early in the morning who stayed under the sun outside.
As an example of a button, it was noted the exclusivity that some people close to Palacios had and the same authorities who were the first to be photographed with Miss Universe without taking into account and importance the affection and tenderness of the elderly and girls who gathreed to see the most beautiful Nicaraguan in the universe, who ignored their desire.
After that, it was generally reported that there would be no more people entering the premises and no more photographs, a decision that was made by the event organizers and Miss Universe authorities. However, the fans decided to wait for Palacio to leave, who left the restaurant 2 hours later and she left a bad taste by not greeting the Latin0 families who were eagerly waiting to see her, even for a few moments.
“What they did doesn’t seem fair and correct to me, we’ve been waiting for her for hours, some of us stopped working and asked for the day off to meet her, they make us line up under the sun and at the last minute they tell us this story, I don’t think so.”
It’s not good for the image of our Miss, I came from San José with my whole family and we couldn’t even go in to greet her. It seems to me that they did not know how to organize well and yet the place does not provide the conditions, since there is another line waiting for the delivery of the food to go”, said Claudio Pompillio, a Palacios fan.
“We understand that our Miss Universe is a human being like us and that she also gets tired, she needs to eat and rest, but it has not been fair that some entered and others did not. I came with my 7-year-old girl who is her biggest idol, and they didn’t allow her to come in at least to meet her,” said María Elena Quintanilla, a Nicaraguan based in San Francisco.
Miss Universe 2023 has been recognized in a few months of her reign as a successful woman among women in the region, managing to position herself as one of the 50 most influential women in Latin America.
Sheynnis Palacios will visit Miami on March 12 and will be received at the Guacalito restaurant, whose owner has been a sponsor of Miss Nicaragua. Nicaraguans plan to give her a great welcome on this Miss Universe tour of the United States.
