DORAL, Florida (AP) — In the world of beauty pageants, Venezuela is queen.
Three of the last six Miss Universe titles have gone to Venezuelan contestants. An entire industry exists in Venezuela to prepare young women to compete.
Donald Trump's announcement Thursday that the upcoming Miss Universe pageant will be in Miami, home to the largest Venezuelan population in the United States, however, could add a dose of politics to the pageantry.
The majority of Venezuelans in Florida fiercely oppose the Venezuelan government. In the past, current Miss Venezuela Migbelis Castellanos has been scrutinized by the opposition for some of her viewpoints.
After tweets surfaced in 2013 lamenting the death of the late President Hugo Chavez, one Florida paper proclaimed she was a "Miss Venezuela with a Chavista heart."
Venezuelans in Florida said they don't have any plans to protest, and Castellanos has distanced herself from any other overtly political statements. But with the pageant taking place in Miami, the subject is almost certain to surface.
"Venezuelans in Miami will question her," said Patricia Andrade, human rights director for the Venezuelan Awareness Foundation, a nonprofit organization. "Remember, this is a community of exiles. There is a lot of pain from having had to leave our country."
Beauty pageants carry enormous significance in Venezuela. In addition to seven Miss Universe titles, the country is a six-time winner of the Miss World competition. When beauty pageants air, eyes are glued to televisions across the nation. Streets go quiet.