Cuban teenager Daylin Rodríguez, second finalist in an international beauty contest held in the US.

Cuban teenager Daylin Rodríguez was second finalist in the international beauty contest Universal Petite 2022, held over the weekend aboard a cruise ship that departed from the American city of Tampa.

The tenth edition of this important competition had the winner of the competitor from Puerto Rico, Mía Escribano, while the first runner-up was the contestant from the United States, Melanie Juarez, and in second place was the 16-year-old girl from Isla de la Youth and resident in Miami, Florida.

Rodríguez is the first Cuban to participate in the category Teen competition (Teen Universal Petite), where in addition to showing his physical and intellectual qualities, he defended the identity of Cuba and the challenges of immigrant communities in the United States, he told CyberCuba the young woman's mother, Yuliet Rock.

"A Cuban had never presented at this event, descendants of Cubans had always attended but never a girl born in Cuba," he commented.

The contest – which also had competitors from Mexico, Canada and Spain – was held on the cruise ship Carnival Paradise that left Tampa for Cozumel, Mexico, on July 7.

Peña explains that several activities were carried out on board the luxurious boat that awarded points to the contestants for the competition. "Since they boarded the cruise the judges were already evaluating, they always had to be impeccable; and on the second day the interview was held that gave the highest score to the competition, 35%."

"In the afternoon they had the judges' gala, where the young women must wear gala dresses and interact with the referees in a more informal way than in the interview. There they evaluate communication, development, bearing, grace," he stressed.

"For this gala Daylin wore a yellow dress with a cape representing the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, patron saint of Cuba," said the mother, who explains that the team involved in the preparation of the young woman anticipated that the costumes would be related to representative colors of Cuba.

Peña says that on the third day the traditional costume competition was held, where Rodríguez appeared in a costume inspired by Cuba's national bird, the tocororo, and the emblematic Tropicana cabaret. The costume combined wings with a feather hat in blue, white and red.

Then they went down to the Mexican island of Cozumel for a section of swimsuit photos, he noted.

"Sunday morning was the opening, the catwalk in a swimsuit and the catwalk in a gala dress. The swimsuit was aqua green because of the Cuban sea and the gala costume for the final was also selected in emerald green, allegorical colors of nature and the landscapes of Cuba," he detailed in statements to our publication.

The Cuban considered that although Rodríguez did a very good job, all the girls were prepared and the contest was very organized.

The interviewee concludes that "beauty contests are more demanding every day, so the candidate's preparation is essential."

"We are not satisfied, but second finalist in an international competition is not bad at all for the little experience that Daylin has in these events," he said.

Although she has only participated in two contests and the Universal Petite is the first internationally, the Cuban is committed to carrying forward a career that began in the Academia Alicia Faccio Modeling School, where Rodríguez studies modeling.

"The challenge is to continue preparing. It was a phenomenal experience that provided fundamental knowledge for future events," said Peña.

At the beginning of next year the young Cuban model should be appearing at Miss Carnaval Miami, an emblematic event of the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana.

"Although this thing about contests is nice and in each contest you learn something different, in reality what she likes most is modeling on catwalks and her biggest dream is to become a model for big brands or renowned designers," commented her mother.

The design of the typical costume was designed by Henry Mezza, a Honduran designer based in Miami; although she also wore a pink dress by designer Fernando Wong, and a swimsuit designed by Daniela Caridad, a young Venezuelan designer.

He also highlighted that Dailyn Rodríguez finished eleventh grade with excellent grades and will begin his last year at High School.

The young woman studied dance for four years in Cuba, and dreams of attending law school and becoming an immigration lawyer.

He arrived in the United States in 2019 thanks to the Family Reunification program. Images of the event were also shared on their Instagram page daylin_0809.