Bolivia's Miss Universe representative sued for 'racist' remarks

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Bolivia’s Miss Universe contender under fire for ‘racist and discriminatory’ remarks on social media that targeted rival contestants, including two she said looked like ‘transsexuals’

  • Miss Bolivia, María Fernanda Pavisic, has come under fire for a series of remarks she made on a video posted to Instagram about Miss Universe 2023 contestants 
  • Pavisic said Miss Venezuela and Miss Peru looked like ‘transsexuals” during the short video clip she uploaded last week
  • The 23-year-old referred to Miss Argentina as ‘Miss Potosí,” which was considered a snug to the women of the southern Bolivian city of Potosí
  • The Potosí mayor’s office responded this week by filing a criminal complaint against Pavisic
  • It accused her of discrimination and racism and called on a local agency in charge of the Miss Universe franchise to strip her Miss Bolivia title

Bolivia’s representative for the Miss Universe pageant could be on the outside looking in. 

A local city government is seeking to ban the 23-year-old model form the contest after he posted remarks that were deemed disparaging against other contestants on her Instagram account.

The mayor’s office from the southern city of Potosí filed a complaint with the South American nation’s Office of the Attorney General, accusing María Fernanda Pavisic of discrimination and racism.

The Potosí city government is also seeking to have her Miss Bolivia title stripped away.

Miss Bolivia María Fernanda Pavisic has come under fire after she posted a video on Instagram last week in which she referred to Miss Paraguay, Miss Brazil and Miss El Salvador as ‘old ladies’ and said that Miss Venezuela and Miss Peru resembled ‘transsexuals.’ In the video clip, the 23-year-old model and psychology student referred to Miss Argentina as ‘Miss Potosí’ – Potosí is a city in southern Bolivia. The municipality’s mayoral office filed a complaint with the South American nation’s Office of the Attorney General, accusing her of discrimination and racism

Miss Bolivia María Fernanda Pavisic will be representing the South American nation at the Miss Universe 2023 pageant, which is set to take place January 4 in New Orleans

Pavisic posted a video last week to her Instagram stories in which she criticized several of the candidates who she will be going up against in the Miss Universe 2023 contest, which is scheduled to be held on January 4 in New Orleans.

She referred to Miss Paraguay, Miss Brazil, and Miss El Salvador as ‘old ladies’ and claimed that the beauty queens representing Ecuador, Aruba, and Curaçao all belong in the ‘thanks for participating’ category.

Pavisic referred to Miss Argentina as ‘Miss Potosí’ and said that Miss Venezuela and Miss Peru resembled ‘transsexuals.’

Miss Peru, Gianella Paz, was among the Miss Universe hopefuls who were at the receiving end of disparaging remarks made by Miss Bolivia, María Fernanda, Pavisic. The Bolivian beauty queen said on Instagram that Paz was part of the ‘thanks for participating’ group

Miss Venezuela, Luiseth Materan, was among the Miss Universe participants who were criticized by Miss Bolivia, María Fernanda Pavisic, who said she and Miss Peru looked like ‘transsexuals.’ The remark was made in video posted to Instagram by Pavisic last week. The mayor’s office for the southern Bolivian city of Potosí filed a criminal complaint with the country’s Office of the Attorney General and accused her Pavisic of discrimination and racism

During a video recording meant to be used as a “social experiment,” Miss Bolivia, María Fernanda Pavisic, said that Miss Curacao, Chantal Wiertz, belonged the Miss Universe 2023 ‘thanks for participating’ category

Miss Ecuador, Susan Toledo (pictured), according to Miss Bolivia, María Fernanda Pavisic (not pictured), would form part of ‘thanks for participating’ category if the Miss Universe pageant had one. The remark was made in video posted to Instagram by Pavisic last week. The mayor’s office for the southern Bolivian city of Potosí filed a criminal complaint with the country’s Office of the Attorney General and accused her Pavisic of discrimination and racism

Pavisic, who is from the Santa Cruz region, then posted a video in which she apologized to the contestants and said that her original remarks were part of a ‘social experiment.’

‘There have been many misses Bolivia but my intention was always to generate change, for a long time I have published positive content, self-love, working with my social project and showing my culture,’ she wrote on Instagram.

Pavisic said argued that the purpose of her video was to show that social media users always tend to share content that is viewed as negative instead of posts that carry a positive message.

‘People decide to support the negative but I risked everything to leave a message, I have always said that it does not matter what people say about you, instead what you think of yourself, and this is clear proof that the last thing that what matters are the comments, but I do care about generating a change or at least that people who see this video and start thinking!’ she wrote.

Miss Bolivia María Fernanda Pavisic apologized for her remarks on Instagram and said the video clip was part of a ‘social experiment’ that was meant to show that social media users tend to post/share negative content more than positive ones

Pavisic added in posting the video it was not her intention to ‘involve derogatory comments (there are no insults) to try to cause as little damage as possible to the candidates, and again I apologize because I am not the one to judge them, ‘make fun’ or make them have a hard time (as no one should do).’

Despite her heartfelt apology, Potosian authorities considered it insufficient.

‘She has denigrated the Potosian woman, she has no merit or morals to represent Bolivia in an international contest’, Potosí mayoral advisor Richard Alejo told The Associated Press.

Roxana Graz, head of the Potosí civic committee, called on Promociones Gloria, which is responsible for the Miss Universe franchise in Bolivia, to remove Pavisic as Miss Bolivia.

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