Tonight, under the lights of one of San José’s premier venues, a new queen will be crowned to represent Costa Rica at the Miss Universe international competition later this year. For anyone who has not lived in Costa Rica long enough to understand what this night means to the country, the level of attention it generates can be surprising. For those who have, it is entirely expected.
Costa Rica has sent representatives to Miss Universe since 1954, making this one of the oldest and most continuous national pageant traditions in Latin America. For more than six decades, the event was broadcast by Teletica, the country’s dominant national television network, turning crown night into a ritual that brought families together around the television the way World Cup qualifiers do elsewhere. When Teletica lost the Miss Universe broadcasting rights in 2024, with the rights moving to the newer channel OPA, it was treated as a significant moment in Costa Rican media, not a footnote.
The pageant draws this level of attention for reasons that go beyond an interest in beauty or fashion. In Costa Rica, the Miss Universe representative carries real symbolic weight. She is expected to be articulate, multilingual, socially aware, and capable of projecting a positive image of the country on an international stage for a full year.
The reigning queen, Mahyla Roth from Cahuita in Limón province, is a case in point. Trilingual in Spanish, English, and Swiss German, signed with a modeling agency in Switzerland, and a semifinalist at Miss International 2022 before taking the national crown in 2025, Roth represents the kind of accomplished, globally competitive profile the country increasingly seeks in its representative.
Adding an extra dimension to tonight’s proceedings is the presence in Costa Rica of former Miss Universe title holders. While the specific names have not been confirmed publicly ahead of the event, the appearance of international former queens at a national pageant is a significant draw for the pageant community. It also signals that the Miss Universe Organization is treating Costa Rica’s selection process with the attention it deserves, particularly in a year when the 75th Miss Universe pageant itself will be held in Puerto Rico, just a short flight away.
The international pageant world is currently at a high point of visibility. The 75th anniversary edition, scheduled for Puerto Rico later this year, carries a Diamond Anniversary designation and is expected to draw more than 135 competing nations. For the woman crowned in Costa Rica tonight, the stakes are higher than they have been in years. She will be stepping into an international spotlight that is brighter, broader, and more competitive than at almost any point in the pageant’s history.
Costa Rica has never won Miss Universe outright, though it has produced semifinalists and quarterfinalists over the decades. The ambition to change that has been building steadily, and tonight is where the next chapter of that effort begins.
