A social media post announcing the win — a joint post by the Miss Universe Cuba organization, Luaces, and photographer Michel Melian — received an onslaught of negative commentary from locals who criticized the contestant for everything from not being born in Cuba, to not speaking Spanish well enough, to being a so-called "nepo baby."
The latter accusation stems from Luaces' connection to Miami entertainment royalty. She is the daughter of Lili Estefan, one-half of the presenting duo of the long-running Univision gossip and pop culture talk show El Gordo y la Flaca. Estefan is the paternal niece of music producer and mogul Emilio Estefan, whose wife is the legendary Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan.
Gloria Estefan congratulated Luaces in the post announcing her win. "Congratulations, Linita!! 👑 ," the singer commented. "Your hard work paid off!! We are so proud of you and love you mucho! 👏👏👏❤️🏆❤️🌻🎶" Her husband posted a tribute to Luaces on his Instagram page, with childhood photos of the new winner. That post was inundated with comments suggesting Estefan had somehow influenced or even bought his relative's win.
Reaction on the joint post announcing Luaces' win doesn't look much better. "I’m sorry and nothing against her, but there were better contestants," wrote one commenter. "Her last name and family connections [are] why she won. All of these contests are rigged."
Another swore off future pageants altogether: "This will be the last Miss Universe Cuba competition I watch. If you noticed, she was called first every time," the commenter wrote. "They should just skip the dog and pony show and name a sponsored winner without the pretend competition. It would save a ton of time and money!"
The critiques have been impactful enough to warrant a response from Luaces, who addressed the "nepo baby" accusations in a post-pageant interview. "I know everyone's going to have their opinion," she said. "But my family does not wake up at 6 a.m. every day to go to the gym, or to go to Spanish, public speaking, or catwalk classes for nearly 13 hours each day...If I believe in myself, that's what's important."
Still, that is not the only critique being leveled at the new winner. Other comments criticized the decision to crown a contestant who was not born in Cuba. "In Cuba [people are] starving without electricity or transportation, and [they're represented by a girl who lives with all comforts in Miami," wrote one commenter in Spanish.
To be clear, Miss Universe Cuba allows both contestants who were born in Cuba and the children of exiled Cubans to participate in the pageant. That decision has been controversial from the beginning. Last year's winner, Marianela Ancheta, was born on the island, in Villa Clara, but she, too, was criticized for winning the Miss Universe Cuba crown despite having emigrated to Mexico and, later, to the U.S. as a child.Fascinated by Miss Cuba (Lina Luaces, Lili's Estafan daughter) not being born in Cuba nor being a native spanish speaker (shes an adult heritage speaker who's currently enrolled in classes) what is the work around besides being a nepo baby
— rizzy mcguire (@2quetzales) July 10, 2025
Critiques of Luaces and Ancheta's Cuban-ness, and of the former's fluency in Spanish, touch on sensitive themes for children of immigrants, who are less likely to retain the language of their parents' home countries. First- and second-generation Americans are less likely to be as fluent as their parents, with research suggesting "a heritage language becomes all but extinct" with the third generation.
Those conversations are also occurring against the backdrop of a pageant that has been marred by a complicated political history. Cuba returned to the Miss Universe competition last year for the first time since 1967. Among the many sweeping changes Fidel Castro's revolution brought to the island was a ban on beauty pageants, which he dismissed as "frivolous" and "shallow." The United States embargo against Cuba further complicated matters, making it even more difficult for Cubans to compete in subsequent years. In its second year back, contestants are facing the emotional reactions of viewers who are still contending with the lingering effects of those events.
