Location and date
On 3 August 1971, the Miss Universe Organization and the Government Economic Development Administrator of Puerto Rico signed a contract to bring both Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants to San Juan for the next five years. [4] Additionally, instead of Miami, Georgina Rizk, Miss Universe 1971, will reside in the designated territory as per the signed contract. Harold Glasser, president of the Miss Universe Organization, stated that the competition was relocated to Puerto Rico due to the positive impression that Miss Universe 1970, Marisol Malaret, made during her reign. [5]
Selection of participants
Contestants from sixty-one countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. One candidate is appointed to the position after being runner-up in their national pageant. [6]
Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals
This edition saw the debut of Iraq [7] and the returns of El Salvador, which last competed in 1955; and Chile, Denmark, Hong Kong and Paraguay which last competed in 1970.
Miss Lebanon 1972, Christiane Accaoui, withdrew due to government restrictions because of fears of a terrorist attack. [8] Elicia Irish of Trinidad and Tobago and Souad Keneari of Tunisia withdrew for undisclosed reasons. [9] Nicaragua and Panama withdrew from the competition after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Both Maria Koutrouza of Cyprus and Roya Rouhani Moghaddam of Iran are set to compete this year, but withdrew for undisclosed reasons. [8] Daniela Krajcinovic of Yugoslavia withdrew for health problems. [10]
Incidents during the competition
During the Miss USA 1972 pageant, two months before the competition, two bombs exploded inside the Cerromar Beach Hotel, damaging four rooms and four cars in the hotel. The explosions were suspected to be the work of activists opposing the United States' rule in Puerto Rico. [11] [12] As a result, security at the Cerromar Beach Hotel has been tightened during the competition. Only individuals with connections to the hotel, the government, and the competition are permitted inside the competition location. If the damage to the competition persists, the competition in Puerto Rico will not proceed. [13]
On 14 July 1972, Salibe Tartak, the Lebanese Consul in San Juan, announced that the Lebanese government had denied permission for Miss Universe 1971, Georgina Rizk, and the Lebanese candidate for Miss Universe 1972, Christiane Accoui, to travel. Rizk stated that she chose not to fly to Puerto Rico due to fears of reprisals related to the Tel Aviv Airport massacre that occurred on 30 May 1972, which resulted in the deaths of sixteen Puerto Ricans. The massacre was carried out by three Japanese men who had been recruited by Palestinian guerrilla groups. [14] [15] According to Tartak, instead of being afraid of the massacre on May 30, Rizk was afraid of possible terrorist activities by terrorist groups on the island at Miss Universe, just like the bombings that occurred during Miss USA 1972. [16]
On the night of the final competition, 400 members of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party gathered to protest along the highway in front of the hotel. The demonstrators chanted, "Working women work, and bourgeois women model." According to Juan Mari Bras, the secretary-general of the Socialist Party, the heavy police presence at the hotel caused a traffic jam on the highway where they were picketing. During the announcement of the winner of the competition, members of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party managed to disconnect the cables of the cameras broadcasting the event. The connection was only restored as Kerry Anne Wells was making her first walk as Miss Universe 1972. [17]
