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Mariana Downing was crowned Miss República Dominicana Universo 2023 (Miss Universe Dominican Republic 2023) during the Miss República Dominicana 2023 grand final held on Sunday, September 3 at Centro de Convenciones Sambil in Santo Domingo. The 27-year-old Dominican-British model and actress, representing Sánchez Ramírez, bested over 20 other competitors to win the national title. She will now prepare to represent the Dominican Republic at Miss Universe 2023 in El Salvador this November. Yamilex Hernández of La Vega was named Miss International Dominican Republic 2023 while Melissa Domínguez of Santo Domingo de Guzmán won the title Reina Hispanoamerican Dominican Republic 2023. Eoanna Constanza of Distrito Nacional and Chantal Silliman of Santiago rounded out the Top 5 finalists while Heidy Rosado of Barahona, Celinda Ortega of Com. Dom. En USA, Leonela González of Com. Dom. En Puerto Rico, Yuli Mercedes of La Romana, and Amelia Ramírez of San Cristóbal were the rest of the Top 10. The

Andreína Martinez, representative of the Dominican community of the US, was crowned Miss República Dominicana Universo 2021 (Miss Dominican Republic Universe) on Sunday, November 7 at the Salón de Eventos Sambil in Santo Domingo. The 24-year-old beauty bested 14 other finalists to win the national competition. She succeeds Miss República Dominicana Universo 2020 and Miss Universe Top 5 finalist, Kimberly Jiménez. Miss Azua, Debbie Áflalo settled with a first runner-up finish while Miss Lavega, Yamilex Hernández was named the second runner-up. Miss Samaná, Elianny Capellán, and Miss La Romana, Érika Silverio, were the third and fourth runners-up, respectively. The new Miss Universe Dominican Republic holds a degree in psychology and Latin American studies. She is currently the operations coordinator of the Women's Equality Center in New York. "There is a saying that says 'it takes a village to raise a child' well to make a queen it takes two. I want to thank all those