Theater of the absurdPeru, Bolivia in (so far) war of words over Miss Universe costume
The two Latin American countries claim that the La Diablada costume — part of an Andean ritual — which Miss Peru intends to wear during Sunday’s contest, belong to their country and only their contestant has the right to wear it in the pageant
Forty years ago, on 14 July 1969, la guerra del fútbol began. The Football War (also known as the Soccer War or 100-hours War), was a four-day war fought by El Salvador and Honduras. The underlying causes for the war had to do with political conflicts between Hondurans and Salvadorans over the issue of immigration from El Salvador to Honduras (there were some 300,000 undocumented Salvadorans in Honduras at the time). These tensions coincided with the inflamed rioting during the second North American qualifying round for the 1970 FIFA World Cup. The first game took place in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, with Honduras winning the game. The second game took place in the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador, with a home team win. There was thus a need to play a third and deciding game.
Disturbances broke out during the first game in Tegucigalpa, but the situation got considerably worse during the second match in San Salvador. Honduran fans were roughed up, the Honduran flag and national anthem were insulted, and the emotions of both nations became considerably agitated. Actions against Salvadoran residents in Honduras, including several vice consuls, became increasingly violent. An unknown number of Salvadorans were killed or brutalized, and tens of thousands began fleeing the country. The press of both nations contributed to a growing climate of near-hysteria, and on 27 June 1969, Honduras broke diplomatic relations with El Salvador. Two weeks later, on 14 July 1969, with more Salvadorans coming home from Honduras telling horror stories about how they were mistreated, the Salvadoran army launched an attack against Honduras.
Now, why this walk down memory lane? Because South American neighbors Bolivia and Peru are engaged in a battle over a devil dance costume for Sunday’s Miss Universe beauty pageant, officials confirm.
Both nations say the costume for the Andean ritual known as the Devil’s Dance or La Diablada belongs to their country and only their contestant has the right to wear it in the pageant, the Wall Street Journal’s Matt Moffett and Robert Kozak report today.
Culture Minister Pablo Groux of Bolivia says La Diablada originated in Bolivia and allowing Miss Peru to wear the costume at the pageant threatens his country’s national brand.
“Culture doesn’t have borders,” says Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde, Peru’s foreign minister.
UPI reports that Anthropologist David Guss of Boston’s Tufts University says the Bolivian city of Oruro “might have the most compelling claim” as the birthplace of La Diablada.
Guss adds, though, that there was lots of cultural cross-pollination as the dance ritual evolved, and it moved into parts of both Chile and Peru.
As to the contestants themselves: Peru’s Ms. Karen Schwarz, sounding like a well-prepared contestant (or like Sandra Bullock in “Miss Congeniality”), said it was time for peace between Peru and Bolivia. “We are brothers, we practically live together, we have almost the same customs, the same cultures and there are more difficult problems to solve,” she said to La Razón.
