Barbara Palacios

At 22, Palacios represented Trujillo State in the 1986 Miss Venezuela pageant, held at the Municipal Theater in Caracas. She won the crown, then went on to win Miss South America 1986 in Caracas, where she also earned the Miss Photogenic band. Later that year, in Panama City on 21 July, she became the third Venezuelan to win Miss Universe. Her first connection to the pageant came at age twelve, when Osmel Sousa told her she would one day be Miss Venezuela; she initially refused, and even at 17 turned down his invitation, preferring to work and pay for university. Sousa persuaded her in 1986, and the rest is history.

After her reign, Palacios built a long career as a television host, spanning over two decades, and became a spokesperson for multinational companies across the United States and Latin America. She also founded several advertising agencies, and since 2010 has owned Barbara Palacios Corporation, a U.S.-based company selling women's products, including jewelry and beauty lines. She remains active in her profession, with a career that has continued from 1988 to the present.