Venezuela’s king of the beauty queens
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Chris Kraul reports from Caracas on the man behind Venezuela’s beauty queens: Osmel Sousa.
Famous in the 1980s and ‘90s for producing international beauty queens at his school for pageant contestants, Sousa ended a 12-year drought last month when protege Dayana Mendoza took the Miss Universe 2008 crown in Vietnam, writes Kraul.
‘After taking over as director of the Miss Venezuela pageant in 1981, Sousa went on an incredible 15-year tear, molding winners of dozens of international beauty contests, including seven Miss World and Miss Universe titles. ‘His record helped establish Venezuela’s fame for beautiful women -- probably its second-best-known natural resource after oil. ‘ ‘Sousa created a myth for Venezuelan women to live up to,’ local pollster Alfredo Keller said. ‘In the States, you have the feminine culture of Barbie. Here it’s all about the Misses.’ ‘
Read more about Osmel Sousa and Venezuela’s beauty queens here.
For more on Venezuela in general click here.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City