Is the Miss Nicaragua pageant plotting to overthrow the government?

• Miss Nicaragua pageant scandal!
• Could Sheynnis Palacios lose her crown?
• The pageant’s director is accused of plotting a coup.

On Friday, December 1. Nicaraguan police accused the director of the Miss Nicaragua pageant, Karen Celebertti, of plotting a coup.

Her husband and son were also allegedly arrested for the crimes of «treason to the motherland,» according to The Associated Press.

This comes almost two weeks after Sheynnis Palacios took home the Miss Universe crown.

In a statement, the National Police named Cebertti, her husband Martín Argüello and her son Bernardo Argüello Celebertti, owners of the Miss Nicaragua franchise and other modeling companies.

Police accuse Karen Celebertti of plotting a government coup

At the time, President Daniel Ortega called those protests an attempted coup.

Karen Celebertti was accused by police after being refused entry back into the country.

This happened on November 22 when she accompanied Sheynnis Palacios on a visit to Mexico, after being crowned Miss Universe in El Salvador on the 18th.

Miss Nicaragua pageant scandal

According to sources, Celebertti was accompanied by her daughter Luciana, who was also unable to enter the country.

Days later, the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa reported that Martín and Bernardo Argüello were «disappeared.»

Allegedly they were arrested by police at their home southwest of Managua, after attending the Miss Universe pageant in San Salvador.

The government did not confirm these rumors. Initially, when Palacios won Miss Universe, there were celebrations in Managua and other cities in Nicaragua.

There were celebrations for Miss Universe all over the country

Thousands of people overflowed into the streets to celebrate Sheynnis Palacios’ win and many waved the national flag.

However, public displays of this flag is prohibited by the government because it was a symbol of the 2018 protests, according to the AP.

Media outlets critical of Ortega said that Palacios’ election gave the country hope.

They recalled that since 2018, public demonstrations and celebrations had not been seen in the country because the police had banned them.

Accusations of treason

In their statement, the police said these celebrations were part of a larger plot, according to The Associated Press.

They added that protestors «would take to the streets again in December, in a repeat of history’s worst chapter of vileness.»

It was noted that since 2019, the Celebertti family has been in communication with «traitors» in an attempt to use their franchises, platforms and beauty pageants to plan a coup.

The police did not say where the members of the Celebertti family are, but the statement indicated that «detained and fugitive persons must serve their sentences.»

Could Miss Nicaragua lose her crown?

The recent wave of accusations against the director of the Miss Nicaragua pageant have generated growing uncertainty in the world of beauty contests.

Rumors about a possible removal of the current Miss Universe 2023, Sheynnis Palacios, have begun to circulate on social media.

So far, the Miss Universe Organization has not issued any official statement in this regard, but public and media pressure is increasing.

Fans of beauty pageants are waiting for more information. Meanwhile, Palacios continues to represent Nicaragua as the reigning Miss Universe 2023.