Nicaraguan police filed charges late on Friday against the proprietor of the local Miss Universe franchise, accusing her, along with her husband and son, of conspiracy, money laundering, and spreading false information. This action comes shortly after Nicaragua’s inaugural triumph in the Miss Universe pageant.
Karen Celebertti, the director of the Miss Nicaragua franchise, is alleged to have engaged in a conspiracy against the government, as stated in an official release by the national police. The police statement asserts that Celebertti’s Miss Universe organization has been manipulating pageants for political purposes and orchestrating political maneuvers, funded by foreign entities.
Efforts to contact Celebertti or her representatives for comment were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
Notably, Celebertti was barred from entering the country on October 21, while her husband and son are currently in custody in Nicaragua on charges of conspiracy dating back to 2018. Authorities claim that they played a role in orchestrating anti-government protests.
The winner of Nicaragua’s first Miss Universe title, Sheynnis Palacios, claimed the crown on November 18 and has since been residing in New York, refraining from returning to Nicaragua. Palacios’ victory was met with public celebration in Nicaragua, but the police are now accusing the pageant organizers of attempting to instigate anti-government protests.
It’s worth mentioning that the government had previously prohibited protests in the aftermath of a violent suppression of widespread anti-government demonstrations in 2018, which resulted in over 320 casualties according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.