For many in Trinidad they now have their wish. For this stunningly beautiful Venezuelan woman who recently won a local beauty contest and had the dare to say she would represent the twin-island republic with Tobago overseas, the latest developments regarding the pageant is the ultimate humiliation.
Mileidy Materano, 29, a Venezuelan national and economic migrant who has been living in Trinidad for the past six years, earlier this month won the little-known Ms. Grand International title, much to the chagrin of thousands of locals who didn’t think a foreigner should represent the republic abroad.
Materano, a micro businesswoman, was widely derided on social media with many demanding that the title be yanked from her and given to a local woman.
Late Wednesday, an unhappy Materano stepped down as the Miss. Grand title holder, citing an abject lack of sponsorship by Stolen Productions, the local franchise holder.
The beauty attended a press conference with her Attorney Wayne Sturge and indicated that she would not be traveling to Vietnam to represent the island on October 25th as she had been told that she has to fund her own way. Through her attorneys, she said this is contrary to what she had been told and led to believe all along.
Sturge says there “is a looming threat of litigation” in the wake of the latest developments. “We have instructed Mileidy against answering questions as there is a real risk that this matter may occasion litigation,” Sturge told reporters. His client has been humiliated, he said. She was “informed by Stolen Productions Ltd. via WatsApp that for her reign to continue, she had to fund her trip to the Vietnam pageant, as well as other incidentals, a failure to do so resulting in reign being terminated and her crown passed to the first runner up. In the circumstances, she will formally step down. She wishes to assure that her decision was in no way influenced by any other consideration,” Sturge said. He also argued that his client would not have entered the pageant if she had known that she had to find the funds to represent Trinidad in Vietnam.
It is unclear if the runner up will be activated to attend the contest in Vietnam.
Until the September 10 local pageant, most Trinidadians had not even heard about the Ms. Grand contest, founded back in 2013 by a Thai television host and producer named Nawat Itsargagrisil to promote global peace. Contestants for dozens of nations will send representatives to the event that also aims to highlight humanitarian issues including human rights. Materano left Venezuela six years ago and is the owner of a local beauty shop in T&T.
