Irene Sáez
Irene Lailin Sáez Conde (born 13 December 1961 in Chacao, Miranda, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan politician and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1981. She has been a model, was the mayor of Chacao (a municipality of Caracas), Governor of the state of Nueva Esparta and a former presidential candidate.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Sáez and the second or maternal family name is Conde.
Irene Sáez
- Miss Venezuela 1981
- Miss Confraternidad Sudamericana 1981
- Miss Universe 1981
- Miss Venezuela 1981
(Winner) - Miss Universe 1981
(Winner)
Career[edit]
1981–1989: Pageant wins and early political roles[edit]
Early in her career, Sáez was named the Queen of Club Campestre Los Cortijos for three years in a row. Sáez was crowned Miss Venezuela 1981 and later, crowned Miss Universe 1981 at the 30th annual pageant in New York City at the age of 19.[3] After spending a year traveling the world as Miss Universe, Sáez studied political science at the Central University of Venezuela, and then served a year as Venezuela's cultural representative to the United Nations, expanding the international contacts developed into the realm of culture and diplomacy.
1990–1997: Mayor of Chacao[edit]
In the early 1990s, Sáez turned to electoral politics and a week after the November 1992 coup attempt, led by Hugo Chávez, she was elected mayor of Chacao Municipality, in Caracas. Unbeknownst to Sáez at the time, her political future would continue to be tied to Chávez's rise in the country. In office as mayor of Chacao Municipality, Sáez tackled Chacao's high crime rate by professionalising the municipal police force, with university graduates as officers, higher pay, new police vehicles, and a variety of mobility devices (including roller skates and mountain bikes) allowing the police to move around quicker. Crime fell dramatically as a result of her innovative ideas. Without political experience or an established party machine, Sáez was content to delegate on experts, and "hired top-notch administrators and listened to their advice about everything from setting the budget to running public services."
In December 1995, Sáez was reelected as mayor of Chacao with 96% of the vote, the highest share of the vote in Venezuela's democratic history.[2] The Times of London ranked her 83rd in its list of the 100 most powerful women in the world.
In 1997, she was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award at the Miss Universe Pageant, a recently created prize of the Miss Universe Organization. She made her acceptance speech in both English and Spanish. Sáez was received in the International Airport Simón Bolívar by former president of Venezuela, Luis Herrera Campins, and he gave her a chain of gold for her victory in Miss Universe.