Colombian 'Miss Universe' declines invite from FARC rebels

Miss Colombia Paulina Vega waves after becoming Miss Universe at the Miss Universe pageant in Miami. AP Photo

Bogota — The reigning Miss Universe, a Colombian, has declined an invitation to meet with Colombia’s FARC leftist rebels who are waging Latin America’s oldest insurgency.

Paulina Vega, crowned Miss Universe in January, said she did not think such a meeting would do anything to help peace talks the guerrillas are holding with the government.

Vega is only the second Colombian to clinch the title in the pageant’s 63-year history.

The leftist rebels, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, have been holding peace talks with the Bogota government in Havana since 2012.

The conflict has been underway for half a century. In February, the FARC asked Vega to come to Havana to talk about the peace process.

But at a press conference Monday in Bogota, Vega said she had declined the invitation, saying she did not think such a meeting would have helped anything.

“Simply talking to them and having them tell me how things are going, I don’t think that is something very relevant to the peace process,” Vega said.

She was in Bogota for a meeting with President Juan Manuel Santos as part of a tour of Colombia.