The 2026 Miss Universe Belize pageant has found itself at the center of widespread public outrage after a major cultural misstep during a segment dedicated to celebrating Belizean national heritage. What was meant to be a moment to highlight the Central American nation’s unique cultural legacy instead drew intense criticism when an image of Tikal, Guatemala’s most famous pre-Columbian archaeological site, was featured prominently on broadcast screens.
In an official statement released on Tuesday, the Miss Universe Belize (MUB) organization broke its silence on the controversy, placing full responsibility for the error on the local Belizean production team contracted to handle all visual elements for the event. “We were equally surprised to see Tikal appear on screen during that heritage segment,” the organization noted, confirming that every graphic, design and piece of artwork used throughout the competition was curated and selected exclusively by the local Belizean production professionals. MUB has declined to release the name of the specific team or private agency tasked with the visual production work, leaving questions about accountability still unanswered for many viewers.
The Tikal blunder is not the only misstep to plague this year’s pageant, which marks the first edition under new ownership by an El Salvador-based company. National Director Destiny Wagner, who was appointed to her role just seven weeks before the August 15 grand finale, previously addressed a separate error in a Monday Facebook post. During the final elimination round, hosts incorrectly announced a Top Six semifinalist group instead of the planned Top Five, creating widespread confusion among both contestants and audiences. Wagner issued a formal apology for that mistake, saying “It should not have happened, and I sincerely apologize to the delegates and everyone watching who was understandably confused.”
Wagner explained that the string of production errors – which also included a disruptions during the competition’s question-and-answer round – stem directly from the extremely compressed seven-week timeline the organizing team was forced to work within. From her appointment on June 26 to the live grand finale, the team had to rush to put every element of the event together, leaving little room for error checking or revisions. “Was everything perfect? No! We are learning. We are growing. We are adapting,” Wagner said in her statement, framing the mistakes as growing pains for the newly restructured organization.
Moving forward, MUB has pledged to implement stricter international standards for both production quality and competition scoring in future pageants to prevent similar missteps. The organization emphasized that the missteps from this year’s event will serve as important lessons to strengthen the pageant program long-term. Now, MUB is calling on the Belizean public to set aside the controversy and rally behind the newly crowned titleholder, Caleigh-Rose West, who will go on to represent Belize at the upcoming international Miss Universe competition. “It is in your hands, and in the hands of all Belizeans, to speak positively about Belize and about what we want to project to the world through our worthy representative,” the organization’s statement concluded.