Miss Universe Belize: “I Wasn’t Even Angry. It Was Simply Disappointment”

Olivia Yacé, Fourth Runner‑Up at the Miss Universe pageant representing Côte d’Ivoire, is visiting Belize. However, her visit is being overshadowed by a racist comment made on Facebook by a local tour guide. 

Yacé is in the country collaborating with Miss Universe Belize, Isabella Zabaneh, on a series of cultural and social projects.

Zabaneh, speaking publicly about the incident, expressed disappointment rather than anger, particularly because the comment came from someone whose profession centres on welcoming visitors. 

“Belize is a melting pot, and in my final answer on the Miss Universe Belize stage, I literally said we need to let that pot melt,” she said. “And what people did not realise is while it was racist towards one of us, it was racist towards the both of us. I was identified as a tourist, and I won’t even mention what she was identified as,” Zabaneh added.

She described the incident as frustrating, especially given her history of speaking out against racism.

The tour guide, identified as Alex Mes, has since issued an apology in a direct message sent to the social media page that flagged his comment. Mes claimed the remark was not intended to cause harm. “I was taking it for fun and I don’t it to be circling and affecting my daily and livelihood of my job,” he wrote.

Yacé responded with grace, as she acknowledged that public figures are frequent targets of criticism, and used the moment to send a message of resilience to young women. “Despite what life throws at you, you have to keep going. You always have to see the positive side of things,” she said.

She was equally firm about not letting one ugly moment cloud her time in Belize. “I love Belize. I’ve had an amazing welcome. The people here are so nice, so you can’t base an experience on one person or one bad thing that happened,” she said.