Vanessa Mendoza

Colombian politician, actress and fashion model

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is  Mendoza and the second or maternal family name is  Bustos.

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Vanessa Mendoza

Born|

Vanessa Alexandra Mendoza Bustos

(1981-07-25) July 25, 1981 (age 43)

Quibdo, Chocó, Colombia

Height| 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[citation needed]
Beauty pageant titleholder
Title| Miss Chocó 2001
Miss Colombia 2001
Hair color| Black[citation needed]
Eye color| Brown[citation needed]
Major
competition(s)| Miss Colombia 2001
(Winner)
Miss Universe 2002
(Unplaced)

Vanessa Alexandra Mendoza Bustos (born 25 July 1981) better known as Vanessa Mendoza, is a Colombian politician, actress, fashion model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Colombia 2001 being the first Afro-Colombian to win that title.

## Biography

[edit]

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Mendoza was born in Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia in 1981. She grew up in a small town named Unguía. Mendoza grew up in poverty, and was one of her parents' sixteen children. Her father died when she was still young, leaving her mother to care for the family. Despite the poor conditions the family endured, Vanessa showed early interest in becoming a model, and began pursuing that career.

Mendoza became Miss Chocó in 2001, a year in which Miss Colombia pageant was facing a racism scandal. She became the first Black Miss Colombia, winning the title over first runner-up, Consuelo Guzmán Parra. Despite suspicion that she had won the contest so that rumors about racism would be eradicated[citation needed], Mendoza became popular among Colombians, who gave her the nickname "Black Barbie". Mendoza was the object of an official reception in Cartagena after her victory, where she declared that she was about representing her race and country.

Mendoza replaced Andrea Nocetti as Miss Colombia. Prior to winning Miss Colombia, Mendoza had the distinction of being the only contestant of the pageant's 2001 version not to admit having a plastic surgery for the contest. Mendoza participated in the Miss Universe 2002 pageant, winning the Best National Costume award.

On March 2, 2005, she and United States comedian Chris Tucker were the key speakers at a speech in Benedict College.

## Politics

[edit]

She won a seat as part of the black minority in Congress and became a member of Chamber of Representatives from 2017 to 2018.[1] Colombia's 10% black minority has the right to two of the 166 seats in the lower congressional chamber.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Admiten demanda contra llamado a exreina Vanessa Mendoza para curul afro". www.elpais.com.co. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
2. ^ colombiareports (2017-07-07). "Former Miss Colombia to represent black minority in Congress". Colombia News | Colombia Reports. Retrieved 2020-08-23.

## External links

[edit]

* Mendoza at Benedict College celebrity lecture series Archived 2006-02-14 at the Wayback Machine
* Vanessa Mendoza and the Miss Colombia 2001 fairytale

Preceded by

Andrea Nocetti

|  Miss Colombia
2001 | Succeeded by

Diana Mantilla

|
|

* v
* t
* e

Miss Colombia titleholders

1930s|

* Yolanda Emiliani (1934)

1940s|

* María de la Piedad Gómez (1947)
* Myriam Carolina Sojo (1949)

1950s|

* María Leonor Navia (1951)
* Luz Marina Cruz (1953)
* Ligia Gallón Domínguez (1955)
* Doris Gil Santamaría (1957)
* Luz Marina Zuluaga (1958)
* María Stella Márquez (1959)

1960s|

* Sonia Heidman Gómez (1961)
* Martha Ligia Restrepo (1962)
* Leonor Duplat Sanjuán (1963)
* Martha Cecilia Calero (1964)
* Edna Margarita Rudd Lucena (1965)
* Elsa María Garrido (1966)
* Luz Elena Restrepo (1967)
* Margarita Reyes Zawadzky (1968)
* María Luisa Riasco (1969)

1970s|

* Piedad Mejía Trujillo (1970)
* María Luisa Lignarolo (1971)
* Ana Agudelo Correa (1972)
* Ella Cecilia Escandón (1973)
* Martha Lucía Echeverry (1974)
* María Helena Reyes (1975)
* Aura María Mojica (1976)
* Mary Shirley Sáenz (1977)
* Ana Milena Parra (1978)
* Patricia Arbeláez (1979)

1980s|

* Nini Johanna Soto (1980)
* María Teresa Gómez (1981)
* Julie Pauline Sáenz (1982)
* Susana Caldas (1983)
* Sandra Borda Caldas (1984)
* María Mónica Urbina (1985)
* María Patricia López (1986)
* Diana Patricia Arévalo (1987)
* María Teresa Eugorrola (1988)
* Lizeth Mahecha (1989)

1990s|

* Maribel Gutiérrez (1990)
* Paola Turbay (1991)
* Paula Andrea Betancur (1992)
* Carolina Gómez (1993)
* Tatiana Castro (1994)
* Lina María Gaviria (1995)
* Claudia Elena Vásquez (1996)
* Silvia Fernanda Ortiz (1997)
* Marianella Maal Paccini (1998)
* Catalina Acosta (1999)

2000s|

* Andrea Nocetti (2000)
* Vanessa Mendoza (2001)
* Diana Lucía Mantilla (2002)
* Catherine Daza (2003)
* Adriana Tarud Durán (2004)
* Valerie Domínguez (2005)
* Eileen Roca (2006)
* Taliana Vargas (2007)
* Michelle Rouillard (2008)
* Natalia Navarro (2009)

2010s|

* Catalina Robayo (2010)
* Daniella Álvarez (2011)
* Lucia Aldana (2012)
* Paulina Vega (2013)
* Ariadna Gutiérrez (2014)
* Andrea Tovar (2015)
* Laura González (2016)
* Valeria Morales (2017)
* Gabriela Tafur (2018)
* María Fernanda Aristizábal (2019)

2020s|

* Valentina Espinosa Guzmán (2021)
* Sofía Osío (2022)
* Catalina Duque Abréu (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Miss Universe 2002 national titleholders

* ALB: Anisa Kospiri
* BEL: Ann Van Elsen
* CAN: Neelam Verma
* COL: Vanessa Mendoza
* CZE: Diana Kobzanová
* DOM: Ruth Ocumárez
* FRA: Sylvie Tellier
* IND: Neha Dhupia
* MEX: Ericka Cruz
* NED: Kim Kötter
* NIC: Marianela Lacayo
* NIG: Chinenye Ochuba
* PAN: Justine Pasek
* PHI: Karen Loren Agustin
* PUR: Isis Casalduc
* RUS: Oxana Fedorova
* SGP: Nuraliza Osman
* SWE: Malou Hansson
* THA: Janjira Janchome
* TUR: Çağla Kubat
* USA: Shauntay Hinton
* VEN: Cynthia Lander
* YUG: Slađana Božović

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