English Teacher Crowned Miss Costa Rica Amidst Controversy
Carolina Rodriguez
Carolina Rodriguez, a 27-year old English teacher and linguist from Alajuela, is the new Miss Costa Rica.
The crowning of the 2016 Miss Costa Rica was celebrated on Friday at the Children’s Museum, located in the northern sector of Downtown San Jose. The pageant, which was mired in controversy from the beginning, featured an unusual second round of interview questions to surmount a three-way tie between Miss Rodriguez, Elena Correa and Andrea Castro.
Early upheaval in the pageant started a few weeks ago with a searing Facebook update posted by 2015 runner-up Nicole Carboni Renault, a beautiful and outspoken fitness model who became notorious after taking advantage of her dual Costa Rica/United States citizenship to pursue the Miss USA title.
As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Miss Carboni accused the Miss Costa Rica pageant of being influenced by “social prostitution,” a term sometimes used to describe the ancient practice of engaging in relationships for economic reasons and to climb social status. The gossip and tabloid media often reports on this social practice, particularly when it involves a young and attractive woman in a relationship with a wealthy, older man.
In her deleted Facebook post, Miss Carboni predicted that the next Miss Costa Rica would be Elena Correa, who is currently in a relationship with Carlos Rodriguez, a powerful businessman who previously was the sole owner of La Guacima, the national auto racing speedway of Costa Rica. La Guacima racing complex was sold to media giant Grupo Nacion, an entity that has close ties with Teletica (the TV network that owns Miss Costa Rica) and with Mr. Rodriguez.
The business mogul, who is in his late 60s, has been with Miss Correa, who is 25 years old, a few years. Miss Correa is one of the 10 Miss Costa Rica finalists, and she is one of the pageant’s favorites. In the past, Mr. Rodriguez has been in relationships with various models and beauty queens, and all of them have been significantly younger. Of note is Melissa Mora, who makes headlines every time she has a wardrobe malfunction.
In the end, Miss Correa ended up with the same number of votes as Miss Rodriguez and Miss Castro. The crowd favorite, fashion model Maria Amalia Matamoros, was not selected as runner-up.
In the second round of interview question, Miss Rodriguez was extremely eloquent as she explained her plans to advocate for communities in Costa Rica where the water utility is not evenly enjoyed among all. Her proposal came across as feasible, reasonable and shovel-ready; when asked why she chose water rights as her cause, Miss Rodriguez said: “Why not? This is a project that the former Miss Costa Rica [Brenda Castro] has already made progress in. With or without the crown, I know I can finish it.”
After a standing ovation from the audience and judges, Miss Rodriguez was given the crown and sash. As has become the norm with regard to beauty pageants in Costga Rica, not everyone is happy with the results. An astonishing amount of social media comments reflect society’s obsession with youth and its evanescence: many people believe Miss Rodriguez is a dazzling woman, but they also feel (seriously) that at 27 she is a bit old for Miss Universe.
http://news.co.cr/english-teacher-crowned-miss-costa-rica-amidst-controversy/50037/
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