Peru participated in the Miss World pageant for the first time in 1959, represented by María Elena Rossel Zapata, who was ranked as the 1st runner-up. This was the first time that a Latin American country won 2nd place in the Miss World pageant. In 1967, Peru won the Miss World crown for the first time with Madeline Hartog-Bel, exactly ten years after Gladys Zender won the Miss Universe pageant in 1957, Hartog-Bel had previously participated in Miss Universe 1966, where she placed among the 15 semifinalists. In 1973, Peru did not send its representative, Mary Núñez Bartra, to the Miss Universe Pageant, because she was prevented from participating by the president of the republic, Juan Velasco Alvarado. He considered the contest was the product of American capitalism, and a country with which he did not have good relations. This was the only occasion in which a Miss Peru did not participate in the Miss Universe except for in 1955 and 1974, when no contest was held. Given the refusal of Alvarado, Bartra was sent to Miss World 1973 in London, England. In 1982, Peru became the first South American country to host the Miss Universe pageant. Miss Universe 1982 was held in the Coliseo Amauta in Lima on July 26, 1982. The winner was the 18 year old Karen Baldwin from Canada, who became the first representative of her country to win the Miss Universe title. A group of twelve semifinalists were chosen from a total of 77 candidates, representatives from the many countries and territories that competed in this version of the contest. This was the sixteenth consecutive spirited contest for the American television presenter Bob Barker. The show was broadcast via satellite by the U.S. network CBS in collaboration with Panamericana Televisión. In this edition, Peru was represented by Francesca Zaza, who was among the 12 semifinalists and won the prize for Best National Costume. In 1987, Jessica Newton was chosen to represent the country in Miss Universe 1987 in Singapore. The winner of this edition was the Chilean Cecilia Bolocco. Newton was among the 10 semifinalists. Years later Newton took the franchise of the Miss Peru pageant and was responsible for organizing the event and preparing Peruvian queens for the Miss Universe and Miss World for 12 years. After many years in 1996, Peru reappeared in the contest with Natali Sacco, who entered in the top