| Sandra Vinces, Miss Ecuador 2009, competes in her | | | | In the run-up to the big event at the Atlantis Resort on |
| BSC Swimwear and Nina Shoes during the swimsuit | | | | Paradise Island, Panama's Diana Broce won the prize |
| segment of the Miss Universe 2009 Presentation | | | | for best national costume. |
| Show at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas on August | | | | And the contest actually sparked a diplomatic kerfuffle. |
| 16, 2009. Vinces, 19, and Iceland's Ingibjorg Egilsdottir, 24, | | | | Bolivia's culture minister was outraged when Miss Peru |
| are early favorites on Facebook and other social | | | | Karen Schwarz wore a typical costume known as a |
| networking sites ahead of Sunday's Miss Universe | | | | "Diablada," saying it was a symbol of his country -- and |
| contest | | | | not Peru. |
| Ecuador's Sandra Vinces, 19, and Iceland's Ingibjorg | | | | The costume is worn during Bolivia's Oruro Carnival, a |
| Egilsdottir, 24, are early favorites on Facebook and | | | | UNESCO-honored cultural event. The term Diablada |
| other social networking sites ahead of Sunday's Miss | | | | also refers to a typical dance of Aymara indigenous |
| Universe contest. | | | | people, who live in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. |
| Eighty-four contestants will parade in swimwear for | | | | With a worldwide audience and a particularly rapt |
| the judges who this year include actors, TV producers, | | | | following in Latin America, the Miss Universe contest |
| photographers, fashion critics and vintage supermodel | | | | airs on NBC television on Sunday. |
| Valeria Mazza. | | | | |