Asunción’s Vanessa Castro is Miss Universe Paraguay 2020, crowned in Lambaré

Vanessa Castro Guillén, 27, of Asunción, Paraguay was crowned Miss Universe Paraguay 2020 during the Reinas de Belleza del Paraguay 2020 coronation night on December 3, 2020. She bested nine other finalists.

Organized by Reinas de Belleza del Paraguay under Promociones Gloria, a modeling agency based in Bolivia, the beauty pageant was held at the veranda complex of Resort Yacht and Golf Club Paraguayo in Lambaré, Paraguay with limited audience due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19). It was hosted by Mario Ferreiro, 61, and was livestreamed on Facebook and Instagram.

While Castro was selected as the official representative of Paraguay at Miss Universe 2020, Gabriela Benitez, 25, was named virreina or vice queen. Araceli Dominguez, 22, and Cristina Benitez, 25, were first princess and second princess, respectively.

The other finalists were Cindy Aquino, 21, Keren Gavilan, 20, Sandra Sanabria, 27, Sara Ramos, 25, Viviana Vera, 24, and Yenny Benitez, 20. Yenny was named Miss Social Media and Sanabria won the Best Face award while Ramos, Gavilan, Vera and Aquino were the respective winners of the Miss Elegance, Miss Photogenic, Miss Sympathy and Miss Silhoutte awards.

The coronation of Castro as Miss Universe Paraguay 2020 was questioned by several Paraguayan beauty pageant enthusiasts. She was accused of not participating in preliminary activities unlike the other nine candidates.

Castro was included in the official list of Reinas de Belleza del Paraguay 2020 candidates. However, she allegedly joined the other candidates only three days before the coronation night.

According to Miss Supranational 2015 Stephania Stegman, 28, she was appointed as Miss Universe Paraguay 2020 but she was forced to resign three months after holding the title because she was not able to pay the franchise for the title. Neither Reinas de Belleza del Paraguay nor Promociones Gloria has released a statement about the allegations.

Castro, who is 173 cm tall, was Miss Cordillera 2013 and an alumna of Academia de Modelaje de Reinas y Princesas. She is an architect and is allegedly the girlfriend of one of the sponsors.

The Asunción native will be the 58th woman to represent Paraguay at Miss Universe. If she wins, she will be the beauty pageant’s first ever titleholder from her home country.