Miss Latin America 2006

Miss América Latina 2006 was the twentieth international edition of the Miss América Latina contest, and the twenty-second overall. The final event was held on June 28, 2006 in Riviera Maya, Mexico. At the conclusion of the pageant, Melissa Quesada of the United States was crowned by outgoing titleholder, Mariela Candia of Paraguay.^[1]

Results

Contestants^[2]

National Notes

Debuts

Returning territories

Withdraws

Historical significance

• USA earned its first international victory. The first two Miss Latin America titleholders, from 1981 and 1982, were both from the USA but both pageants were not international competitions.
• Canary Islands and Catalonia both placed for the first time.
• Canary Islands earned its highest placement ever.
• Nicaragua matched its highest placement (second runner-up) since winning in 1992.
• Brazil placed for the sixth consecutive time, tying Brazil with Colombia for the longest placement streak.
• Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and the USA also placed in 2005.
• Honduras last placed in 2000, when Dania Prince won.
• Guatemala and Nicaragua last placed in 2002.
• Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico last placed in 2004. Puerto Rico's Gamalis Fermín had been the winner.
• This year saw a change in format to calling out 12 semifinalists, the most semifinalists called out in the history of the pageant. This format would be repeated from 2008 onward.
• This was the only pageant, as of 2011, that Costa Rica did not attend.

References