Bolivia gave up the possibility of hosting ‘Miss Universe’ contest

Yesterday the Bolivian government authorities withdrew the nomination of the eastern city of Santa Cruz to host the Miss Universe contest due to the high costs of the event.

Zulma Yugar, Bolivia’s Minister of Culture, made the decision after a talk with executives of the contest organized by the U.S. businessman Donald Trump and delegates of Promociones Gloria, the Bolivian firm that performs the major beauty pageants in the country.

The minister informed the media that “While technical matters, negotiations had progressed, after reviewing financial, tax and legal aspects, we realized that those things were difficult to achieve.

She further assured that “among the reasons that led to her to make this decision is the great outlay required by the contract with the Miss Universe Organization.”

According Yugar Zulma, “who organizes the pageant has to pay more than 600 hours of air-conditioned limousine, nights at a 5 star hotel, more than 45 thousand dollars for laundry and 350 air ticketsat a cost of over half a million dollars.

And that “the rental of sound and lighting for the event would cost nearly a million dollars, while building the stage for the final night of competition would be around a half million dollars.”

She also stated that “In the case of entering into an international arbitration organization for this event is conducted under foreign law which is against the Bolivian Constitution.”

The minister added that “the contract of Miss Universe provides a guarantee of three million dollars for immediate implementation to any fault no matter how small it is and purchase international insurance for women candidates and your wardrobe with a coverage of 39 million dollars” .

And confirmed that “his department took the decision after analyzing the possibility of Bolivia to host the event with representatives from the Ministries of Economy and Finance, Legal Defense and technicians.”

But “doesn’t give up the possibility of working for the realization of the competition in the country if there are private initiatives that seek to make the event”.

As Bolivia is now out of the contest, the new countries are Croatia and Australia.