The National Beauty Contest held on Saturday, 29 March turned out to be a whirlwind of controversy when Sandra Abreu of La Romana was crowned Miss Republica Dominicana instead of Annelisse Ortiz Mirabal of Salcedo, who was the favorite of the audience and, despite the final result, apparently also of the judges.
Various unidentified judges told El Nacional newspaper that they had voted for Miss Ortiz Mirabal, and their displeasure was evident when they left the stage at the Teatro Nacional immediately after Miss Abreu was named the winner. “There was great pressure put on us to vote for the candidate from La Romana,” said one of the unnamed judges.
The audience also supported Miss Ortiz Mirabal, not only with their applause and subsequent cries of fraud after the crowning of Miss Abreu, but also in an informal poll conducted by Jose Tomas Paulino of the television station TeleAntillas (channel 2) moments before the announcement of the winner. Of 29 members of the audience surveyed by Mr. Paulino, 20 said they favored Miss Ortiz Mirabal.
According to El Nacional, each judge was given a blank piece of paper and a pencil to write the name of their choice for Miss Republica Dominicana, yet the name of Miss Abreu appeared in type in the envelope given to the master of ceremonies, Mariasela Alvarez. As described in most newspaper reports, a scene of confusion followed the announcement of Miss Abreu as the winner, with the 1995 Miss Republica Dominicana, Candy Lara, standing on the stage holding the crown and the audience and supporters of Miss Ortiz Mirabal shouting fraud at the coordinator of the event, Francisco Sanchez.
The family of Miss Ortiz Mirabal, together with the director of her sponsor, the modeling school Barbizon, Batsy Hazoury, have said that they are willing to appeal against the results of the contest with a lawsuit against the organizers. Miss Ortiz Mirabal has also said that she will not accept the titles of Miss Internacional or Miss Babedas, which are awarded to the runner up, in protest against her second place finish.
5-11 April 1996