CARACAS –  The recently-crowned Miss Venezuela 2016, Keysi Sayago, said Thursday that she is "like any other Venezuelan woman," emphasizing the humble origins of her family and the sacrifices that, she said, she had to make to win the crown earlier this week.
"More than a 'miss,' I've been Keysi, a Venezuelan woman like any other ... My family worked very hard ... My origins are sort of ... low-income. The road to here has been very tough and I've been up to the task of the journey," said the Venezuelan beauty queen at a press conference.
On her first day as Miss Venezuela, also her 23rd birthday, she said that all Venezuelans are "happy" with her coronation.
"Everyone's happy and I, OK, (I'm) crying, very proud," she said.
Accompanied by the other four participants who make up the pageant's so-called "honor roll," Miss Venezuela livened up while responding to a question about the country's economic situation.
"The crisis affects us all ... but we've certainly tried to keep ourselves in a bubble because at the end of the day this is a beauty contest, and the attitude that we had all during the contest was necessary to do well. We couldn't let ourselves get carried away by all the bad things," she said.
In addition, she expressed her interest in working on behalf of animals, as part of her social responsibility duties, since - she said - "they are innocent living things and they don't have a voice to tell what's going on with them."
At the insistence of reporters, Sayago commented on the controversy between Venezuelan-born former Miss Universe Alicia Machado and U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
"We all have freedom of expression. I don't share this gentleman's opinions, but we have to be tolerant and respect everyone's opinion," Sayago said.
Sayago triumphed over 23 other contestants in the pageant lasting more than four hours and received the crown from the hands of Mariam Habach, Miss Venezuela 2015, who will represent the South American country in the next Miss Universe pageant.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2016/10/06/miss-venezuela-2016-im-humble-woman-like-any-other/