Miss Latina US

Miss Latina US, formerly known as Miss Latina USA, is an American beauty pageant exclusively for Latina women in the United States. It is open to those born in Latin American or Iberian countries, or descended from them. Titles are available for all states, but typically those with larger Latin populations compete every year (such as Texas, California, Florida, New Mexico, etc.). Women may also represent their country of birth or those of their parents or grandparents. It was held for the first time as an official national preliminary to the Miss Latin America pageant in 1986. It is also a sister pageant to the Miss Teen US Latina pageant. All three pageants are owned and operated by Miss Latin America Organization, similar to the way the Miss Universe Organization operates the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants.

The current titleholder is Elizabeth Robaina of Cuba.

History

Originally, the Miss Latin America pageant was founded to provide scholarships for Latin American women living in the Miami, Florida region. Only five women participated in the original pageant, held in 1981. In 1982, the number expanded. In 1983, it went international, but individual states were represented at that pageant. As a matter of fact, Cira Sanchez of Texas was the second runner-up, while the representatives from Florida, Arizona and California were top ten finalists (Nevada also competed.) In 1984, ten state representatives participated at the Miss Latin America 1984 pageant, held in Miami Beach, with Florida's representative, Yolanda Fernandez, placing as the first runner-up to Venezuela's Mirla Ochoa. Florida again placed as first runner-up in 1985, and Arizona was third runner-up. In 1986, a separate pageant was founded, the Miss Latina USA contest. The winner went on to represent the United States at Miss Latin America. This has happened every year since. In 2001, as per agreement with the Miss Universe Organization, who owns the rights to the Miss USA title, the pageant changed its name from Miss Latina USA to Miss Latina US. Additionally, Miss Latin America became post-dated in 1999, changing the contest from Miss Latin America 1999 to Miss Latin America 2000. However, Miss Latina US had not, so Miss Latina USA 1999 went to Miss Latin America 2000. This was corrected in 2008, when the Miss Latina US Pageant held in September 2008 was post-dated and became Miss Latina US 2009, with the winner competing at Miss Latin America 2009. The international pageant was renamed Miss Latin America of the World in 2008 because of the rule changes allowing participation of Latin heritage delegates from around the globe that had begun in 2002.

Miss Latina US 2009

The Miss Latina US 2009 contest was held September 28, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. Diana Franco of Utah was crowned Miss Latina US 2009 by outgoing titleholder Fatima Leonardo of Rhode Island. The runners-up were Johanna Sambucini (New York), Sasha Zacarias (Rhode Island), [[Valerie Velazquez (Texas)www.myspace.com/valgal0076 ))

Winners

Year	Name	State	Placement at Miss Latin America
1986	Sandra Luz Cedillos (Mexico)	Texas
1987	Sdenka Dobronic (Bolivia)	District of Columbia
1988	NOT HELD[1]
1989	Hany Valdes (Cuba)	Florida
1990	Carola Garfias (Peru)	Arizona
1991	Yvette Gonzalez (Cuba)	New York
1992	Carla Morales (Guatemala)	Rhode Island
1993	Dailin Garcia (Cuba)	Florida
1994	Joanne Morales-George (Cuba-Puerto Rico)	Florida
1995	NOT HELD[2]
1996	Iris Almario[3] (Puerto Rico)	New York
1997	NOT HELD[4]
1998	Katherine Rodriguez (Cuba)	Florida
1999	Dilania Inoa (Dominican Rep.)	Rhode Island
2000	Katherine Gonzalez (Puerto Rico)	New York	Semi-Finalist at Miss Latin America 2001.
2001	Karla Vargas (Nicaragua)	California
2002	Elynor Martinez (Guatemala)	Utah
2003	Lydia Acuña (Mexico)	Utah
2004	Graciela Stanley (Costa Rica)	Kansas	First Runner-Up at Miss Latin America 2005.
2005	Melissa Quesada (Puerto Rico)	New York	Miss Latin America 2006
2006	Melissa Marin[5] (Colombia)	Rhode Island
2007	Yalena Matos[5] (Cuba)	Oregon
2008	Fatima Leonardo[6] (Dominican Rep.)	Rhode Island
2009	Diana Franca (Brazil)	Utah	First Runner-Up
2010	Elizabeth Robaina (Cuba)	Cuba	Fourth Runner-Up

Notes

1. ^ The 1988 event was postponed until 1989 because of the Mexican presidential inauguration. It was renamed Miss Latina USA 1989.
2. ^ The 1995 event was canceled because of a national crisis in the host nation.
3. ^ There was no Miss Latina USA 1996 pageant held. Iris Almario was selected by a panel of judges to represent the United States at Miss Latin America. Almario had competed before, however, having placed first runner-up at Miss Latina USA 1993.
4. ^ Miss Latin America 1997 and Miss Latina USA 1997 were cancelled as a result of internal reorganizations by the Miss Latin America Organization.
5. ^ ^{a b} Originally, Melissa Marin was crowned Miss Latina US 2006. However, Marin resigned the title to focus on her studies. Her first runner-up, Yalena Matos, was crowned the new Miss Latina US, but because the title assumption occurred in April 2007, the Organization billed her as Miss Latina US 2007, as opposed to assuming the duties of Miss Latina US 2006. Matos competed at Miss Latin America 2007, while Marin didn't compete at the international pageant.
6. ^ Fatima Leonardo was selected to represent the United States at Miss Latin America 2008 when the national pageant was postponed to after the international competition. She had received the state title for Rhode Island as First Runner-up when her predecessor Melissa Marin won the national title, and was amongst the group of state titleholders submitted by their respective directors for consideration for the US representation that year. The pageant that took place in September 2008 was post dated to Miss Latina US 2009.