Miss Universe is an international pageant which is organized annually and is one of the significant Big Four beauty pageants in the world which commenced in the year 1952. Venezuela holds the second place at Miss Universe with seven Miss Universe crowns under its belt.
The country has had a glorious past at Miss Universe; Venezuela experienced a glorious period from 1979 to 2009, a whopping 30 years of continuous placements missing only thrice and winning six of its seven crowns in the period.
Venezuela pioneered its win at Miss Universe in 1979 under Maritza Sayalero’s delegation. Making the first sandwich win, the country won again in 1981 when Irene Sáez brought home the crown. Five years later, in 1986 Bárbara Palacios won the Miss Universe crown for Venezuela. The next crown was won in 1996, ten years later, when Alicia Machado was crowned Miss Universe.
2008 and 2009 were glorious years for Venezuela; Dayana Mendoza and Stefanía Fernández brought a back-to-back win at Miss Universe. During the golden period between 1979 to 2009, Venezuela also held four 1st Runner-up positions, four 2nd Runner-up positions, three 3rd Runner-up positions.
In the last decade, from 2011, the country has managed to win one more crown with Gabriela Isler’s win at Miss Universe 2013. The country has also won 2 runner-up positions; Irene Esser won in 2012 and Sthefany Gutiérrez in 2018. They have also won six Top 5/Top 10/Top 20 placement in the last decade.
At the 70th Miss Universe, Luiseth Materán represented Venezuela at the international pageant held in Israel. She placed in the Top 16 with her stellar performance. For the 71st edition, Amanda Dudamel represented Venezuela at Miss Universe 2022 in New Orleans and with her stellar performance, Amanda placed as the first runner-up. The 72nd edition of Miss Universe was held on 18th November 2023 in El Salvador where Venezuela placed in the Top 10 under Diana Silva's delegation.