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OMG Gitmo! Miss Universe Visits Guantanamo Bay, Finds it 'Relaxing' 'Calm and Beautiful'

Posted by Liliana Segura, AlterNet at 2:30 PM on March 30, 2009.


Dayana Mendoza on the U.S. prison camp: "I didn't want to leave."
dayanamendoza

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This post originally appeared in PEEK.

Ever wondered what it takes to be Miss Universe? Thanks to Venezuela's Dayana Mendoza, we can now be sure it's not a finely tuned sense of current events. The reigning beauty queen visited Guantanamo Bay last week, courtesy of the U.S.O, and, in a truly astonishing feat of self-parody, wrote the following description of her trip, including rave reviews of the jails, the military dogs, and of course, the beaches.

I am posting it in its entirety, in case the original post is removed for being just too damn embarrassing to beauty queens everywhere. (Perhaps somewhere Miss Teen South Carolina is feeling a little bit better.)

(H/T to Arun Gupta for not allowing this to go unnoticed.)

This week, Guantanamo!!! It was an incredible experience.

We arrived in Gitmo on Friday and stared going around the town, everybody knew Crystle [Stewart, Miss USA] and I were coming so the first thing we did was attend a big lunch and then we visited one of the bars they have in the base. We talked about Gitmo and what is was like living there. The next days we had a wonderful time, this truly was a memorable trip! We hung out with the guys from the East Coast and they showed us the boat inside and out, how they work and what they do, we took a ride around the land and it was a loooot of fun!

We also met the Military dogs, and they did a very nice demonstration of their skills. All the guys from the Army were amazing with us.
We visited the Detainees camps and we saw the jails, where they shower, how the recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books. It was very interesting.

We took a ride with the Marines around the land to see the division of Gitmo and Cuba while they were informed us with a little bit of history.

The water in Guantanamo Bay is soooo beautiful! It was unbelievable, we were able to enjoy it for at least an hour. We went to the glass beach, and realized the name of it comes from the little pieces of broken glass from hundred of years ago. It is pretty to see all the colors shining with the sun. That day we met a beautiful lady named Rebeca who does wonders with the glasses from the beach. She creates jewelry with it and of course I bought a necklace from her that will remind me off Guantanamo Bay :)

I didn't want to leave, it was such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful.

I was back in NY on Wednesday and on Thursday I did some paper work at the office and went out for dinner. On Friday I flew to Miami for the weekend because I had a photo shoot for the magazine People en Espanol. So hopefully I might be a little lucky and have some time off to take the sun for a while :)

Digg!

Tagged as: guantanamo, cuba, uso, miss universe

Liliana Segura is a staff writer and editor of AlterNet's Rights and Liberties and War on Iraq Special Coverage.


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View:
She's from Venezuela?
Posted by: Quannah on Mar 30, 2009 5:30 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
She's lucky they didn't charge her with being a "terrorist" (remember, her President is the arch-enemy of the USA, Hugo Chavez!) and give her a nice warm cell there!

If Bush was still in the White House, it could have happened...

;-)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: She's from Venezuela? Posted by: weathered
» RE: She's from Venezuela? Posted by: Quannah
» RE: She's from Venezuela? Posted by: weathered
» RE: She's from Venezuela? Posted by: Quannah
Well...
Posted by: Longdream on Mar 30, 2009 7:05 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You could just say I'm a people-person, and I want a career in the arts that also helps people. Either that, or I'll go into medicine, where I'll specialize in plastic surgery or dermatology to help people on foreign shores feel better about themselves.

My heroes are my parents, and Brad and Angelina Jolie-Pitt.

I hope one day to visit every country in the world, making friends and spreading goodwill along the way.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Well... Posted by: countingdaisies
» RE: Well... Posted by: Quannah
» RE: Well... Posted by: Longdream
» RE: Well... Posted by: Quannah
» RE: Well... Posted by: Katie Marie
» RE: Well... Posted by: Quannah
» RE: Well... Posted by: aichbe
» RE: Well... Posted by: mrbailey47
OMG!! Liliana Segura can't tell the difference
Posted by: rickiey on Mar 30, 2009 8:11 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
between not wanting to leave a prison camp and not wanting to leave a beach.

I quote Liliana's headline:

Dayana Mendoza on the U.S. prison camp: "I didn't want to leave."

Now, actual reality: She briefly mentions the tour of the detention, and then she talks about all the people she met and THEN:
(direct quote)
The water in Guantanamo Bay is soooo beautiful! It was unbelievable, we were able to enjoy it for at least an hour. We went to the glass beach, and realized the name of it comes from the little pieces of broken glass from hundred of years ago. It is pretty to see all the colors shining with the sun. That day we met a beautiful lady named Rebeca who does wonders with the glasses from the beach. She creates jewelry with it and of course I bought a necklace from her that will remind me off Guantanamo Bay :)

I didn't want to leave, it was such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful.


So, let me ask you, do you think she was talking about the prison camp when she said she didn't want to leave, or do you think she was talking about the BEACH? Here's a hint:
Which topic does she barely mention, and which does she go into detail about and speak positively about?

Think about it. She spends 3 sentences on the detention center with the most positive comment being "It was very interesting", and 3 paragraphs on NOT the detention center, and somehow, even though it is 2 and half paragraphs later that she says "she doesn't want to leave", you ASSUME that she's talking about the prison?

Go back to school and take some reading comprehension courses before you start thinking you're some sort of journalist.

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» Rickiey Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» & her *emphasis* was on the... Posted by: BlueBerry PickN
She Missed a Few Things
Posted by: DrBrian on Mar 31, 2009 1:19 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I guess she was spared the hydrotherapy at the CIA spa, along with the electrical genital stimulation and the strapado workout. And maybe the sweet little pups just react differently to people in orange jumpsuits.

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truelass
Posted by: Truelass on Mar 31, 2009 1:57 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Another reason why we should stop parading Bimbos on TV and getting rid of stupid, stupid, stupid so called beauty queens who don't have a brain in their heads.

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As One Who's Been There, Much Of What She Says IS True.
Posted by: Ishmael1 on Mar 31, 2009 2:06 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I spent a a few months in lovely Guantanamo Bay in summer of 1978 for Refresher Training. There are Enlisted Men's and Officer's Clubs on both sides of the Bay. There are also many nice beaches, just stay away from the Sea Mine field. There are also many nice hiking trails, just stay away from the Land Mine fields. In fact, after every rainy season, the Jarheads have to go over and demine the trails in case the rains have "moved" a few land mines around from their original position.

I also did some scuba diving there in my off time. The only other things to do were to get drunk and watch movies. On the other hand, I was there over both Jamaican Independence Day and the 20th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. For J.I.D., The Navy flew in a reggae band(all the crap work was done by Jamaicans for obvious reasons) and we skanked with the Jamaicans, smoking Cuban cigars and other things. For the 20th anniversary, Fidel sent a flight of 6 Mig 21s to make simulated bombing runs on us offshore of Santiago de Cuba while 2 Osa-II patrol boats caught up to us and locked on with fire-control radars.

I do think that what's being missed in this whole torture regime was the underlying motive. All independant studies of interrogation techniques show torture is useless and counterproductive. So why did the Bush Dictatorship seem to expressly want to use torture? Also remember that the gitmo inmates were not the only ones tortured, just the first. it was extended to Iraqis, Resident US aliens and even US citizens. The methods "perfected" there were consciously exported to Afghanistan, Iraq, CIA and DOD black sites from Poland to Diego Garcia and even into the Military prison system inside of the US.

Could it be that the ultimate aim was a precedent to be able to torture people like you and me?

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» RE: AND I SECOND THAT.... Posted by: mghuk
OMG, El Bimbo? La Bimba?
Posted by: peterjkraus on Mar 31, 2009 5:59 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Como se dice "Boop-oop-be-doo" en Espanol? Miss Whatevers worldwide seem to be, like, totally body-focused while forgetting the tad that's between the ears.

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what do you expext?
Posted by: Parallax on Mar 31, 2009 6:59 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Give her a break.....she's a beauty contestant for crying out loud...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

An' ... an' ... an' ... I got to fly on a biiiig airplane!!
Posted by: monkeywrench on Mar 31, 2009 7:51 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thank you, Miss Universe, for renewing the widely-held belief that beauty queens are airheads. And don't forget to work on world peace.

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Just what is needed when a place couldn't sink lower.
Posted by: Dr. P. Mooney on Mar 31, 2009 9:31 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Time to pull out the empty headed bimbo who thinks Gitmo is a vacation spa area. One knows, she wasn't anywhere near any of the prisoners and was shown a good time by the brass and other soldiers which of course, fed her starving ego. Can we please, keep the bimbos out of the political arena? I would love to watch her try and find Cuba on a map, let alone Gitmo on the island. ( This includes you too, Ms. Palin. )

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Bimbo visits Auschwitz and finds it just soooooo wonderful...
Posted by: blitzmesser on Mar 31, 2009 11:06 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why not send her to visit Auschwitz and report back on the wonderful sites and the food?
What makes a beauty queen a beauty queen?
Her informed views on a slaughterhouse?
I find nothing beautiful about a person who is oblivious to suffering and babbles like an idiot.
What is she representing besides stupidity?

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On this article
Posted by: theblackgeorgecarlin on Mar 31, 2009 11:42 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Some people will come to this page and rightfully accuse it of being mean spirited attack on this poor woman's ignorance. I couldn't agree with them more,but you know what? I don't care, as we will continue to attack this bimbo until people like her disapear!

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She ain't deep, nor is she pretty...
Posted by: BlueBerry PickN on Mar 31, 2009 12:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
" ...She ain't pretty
She just looks that way...
"
- The Northern Pikes

I had two jobs, I had dishwater hands
And on the weekend in a rock & roll band
One Friday night in my hometown bar
In walked a girl who looked like a movie star
She stared at me and it was turning me on
She said she worked in a beauty salon
I heard a voice inside me say
She ain't pretty she just looks that way

We made a date to go for a drink
I wore my jeans and she wore a mink
There was this misconception all over town
That she ate lonely guy heart by the pound
She said "Take me home, there won't be no fuss"
I said "Sure you got some change for the bus"
Watching her leave I heard the bartender say
"She ain't pretty she just looks that way"

So, uh, I called her up, her father was home
Said "She's busy she can't come to the phone"
I held my breath, decided to wait
A guy like me doesn't get many dates
I fell in love with a model from hell
It took some time for my hormones to tell
That chasing her has been a grave mistake
She ain't pretty she just looks that way

Her ego wrote cheques incredibly fast
But her personality didn't have the cash
I laughed out loud to my total dismay
She ain't pretty she just looks that way
She ain't pretty she just looks that way
She ain't pretty
She ain't pretty
She ain't pretty
She ain't pretty she just looks that way
"




perspective, people.


Perspective.

The Jeff Farias Show: streams FREE & LIVE Mon-Fri, 6-9pmEST

FREE podcast

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» I love that song Posted by: chaoslegs
Let's not be too hard on her!
Posted by: Naty on Mar 31, 2009 12:48 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is a woman who has been told throughout her life that she is beautiful. Speaking from personal experience (alas the beauty fades...) I too was told that and came to believe that simply being a beautiful woman was my highest "achievement". Of course she's ditsy, but isn't she endearing?

Come on folks, lets not be too critical of someone who engages in a beauty pageant. What do you expect? Everyone knows the contestants are ditsy for the most part so there's no need to be indignant.

We should be disappointed instead at the mere existence of such a show. Period. Not the contestants... they're just very ambitious albeit misdirected people (like most of the rest of us). It's really not even worth to dissect how inane they are. It's the audience that should be critiqued by analyzing the aspects of the pageant that retain the viewer's interest and attention.

May I just leave a word of advice that has to do with this article: PLEASE, especially MEN, don't dwell on the beauty of women... especially if you're a father... don't tell your daughter that she's beautiful too much. Say such things sparingly. My father used to gape at me and tell me I was beautiful (we have a normal relationship)and this actually made me feel at once good and bad, good for the obvious reason, bad because I felt at that moment that that was the only thing going for me.

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Beauty queens are stupid
Posted by: jeaninemolloff on Mar 31, 2009 1:22 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I've heard about a timeshare she can rent at Auschwitz if the stupid twit is interested.

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» RE: Beauty queens are stupid Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN
» RE: Beauty queens are stupid Posted by: Quannah
» RE: Beauty queens are stupid Posted by: willymack
Like...such as...and...
Posted by: wagadog on Mar 31, 2009 6:21 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
whatever.

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Next visit a gas
Posted by: Joe the Philosopher on Mar 31, 2009 6:29 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The beauty queen said she was looking forward to her next visit with Charles Manson.

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Los ´V´ellos del mundo
Posted by: abatto on Mar 31, 2009 6:52 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Haber dejenme pensar porque ojo!! las mujeres de sur américa ´pensamos´.Gitmo es uno lugar donde se cometio las torturas mas atroces y a esta nina plastica todo pero todo de era ´marabilloso, hermoso, relajante´, en lugar de mujer bella que carajo eligen ultimamente en estos concursitos mundiales?.

Como ha cambiado el consepto de belleza, ahora cualquier ser humano tan atroz como los que hacian las tortura y como las que se esconden en una mascarita pueden llamarse bellos ... y encima representan al mundo. Que mundo de locos!!!

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She's kinda ugly actually...
Posted by: logansafi on Mar 31, 2009 9:25 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I went to her blog and looked at some of her photos and I think that she's kind of ugly actually. So how did she get to be Miss Universe?

Maybe it's because she's even willing to go to Guantanamo and spread her menstrual blood on prisoners during torture sessions, if that's what would actually be asked of her?

Or perhaps just batting her eyes at dumb US soldiers and playing stupids perhaps? She's pretty good at that I bet! Definitely a world class performer!

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» Menstrual Blood??? Posted by: Naty
» RE: Menstrual Blood??? Posted by: Love Me, I'm a Liberal
Guantanamo IS beautiful
Posted by: cdmsr on Apr 1, 2009 12:19 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Wasn't it Cheney that pointed out that the detainees were in a tropical paradise?

But, seriously, folks, this young woman was carted around, shown only what she was supposed to see and escorted by serviceMEN. Did you really expect in-depth reporting or scathing political commentary?

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Come on people
Posted by: Schroeder on Apr 1, 2009 8:50 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
you know one cannot see what's going on with their head up their arse...

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» RE: Come on people Posted by: Woodpecker