PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- Miss Botswana Mpule Kwelagobe, a 19-year-old who wants to be president of her country and sees nothing wrong with a pregnant beauty queen, won the 1999 Miss Universe pageant Wednesday.
Miss Philippines Miriam Quiambao, 24, was first runner-up and Miss Spain Diana Nogueira, 24, was second runner-up in the contest televised to an estimated audience of 2.5 billion people from the twin-island Caribbean republic of Trinidad and Tobago.Kwelagobe, a model who listed electronics engineering as her goal on her pageant paperwork and once was named best female student in Botswana, was the third African winner of the annual beauty contest.
Kwelagobe, who was seldom mentioned when local pundits handicapped the pre-contest favorites, said she would make AIDS and education the top priorities of her one-year reign.
"My own country has the highest AIDS victims per capita in the world, so I do want to work with HIV-affected people, specifically children, because I believe they are the ones that are affected most," she said at a news conference.
She said during the contest that she aspired to the presidency of Botswana, a south-central African nation of about 1.6 million people, and expected her victory to attract foreign investment.
Observers said it was her poise answering tough questions that won for her, including a question put to the candidates about the possibility of Miss Universe becoming pregnant during her reign. She defended pregnancy as "embracing your femininity."