# Miss Grand Cuba

Miss Grand Cuba is a national title given to a woman chosen to represent Cuba at the Miss Grand International pageant. The first titleholder was a Mexican-Cuban model from Sinaloa, Jamillette Gaxiola, who was appointed by the Miss Cuba organization to compete at the inaugural edition of the mentioned international contest in Thailand, where she was ranked in the final 10. Since then, Cuba has always sent their representatives to compete every year; however, most of them were appointed to the position without organizing the respective pageant until 2022, when a Miami-based Cuban pageant, Miss y Mister Cuba, acquired the license and the Miss Grand Cuba titleholder was elected through such a contest.
The first stand-alone contest of Miss Grand Cuba happened in mid-2023 in Tampa, Florida, organized by former Miss Grand International 2014, Daryanne Lees, after she took over the franchise from the Miss y Mister Cuba organization,

## History

Cuba has usually been sending their representatives to compete at the Miss Grand International since 2013, and won the contest once in 2014 by a Cuban-Puerto Rican, Daryanne Lees, who later became the director of the Miss Grand Cuba pageant in 2023. From 2013 to 2020, the license belonged to a Miami-based pageant organizer chaired by Noemi Meléndez, Miss Cuba. However, no national contests were organized for Miss Grand International; Cuban representatives for the mentioned period were all appointed.
In 2021, the license was taken over by another group of Cuban Americans, Vicar Abel and Miledy de los Santos, and was then transferred to Julio César Cruz and Faddya Halabi in 2022, when Miss Grand Cuba was one of the main titles in their national pageant, Miss y Mister Cuba. However, Daryanne Lees, with a former licensee, Noemi Meléndez, as chief financial officer, took the license back in 2023 and organized the first contest of Miss Grand Cuba in Tampa, Florida, in mid-2023, to select the country representative for the 2023 edition of Miss Grand International. The license was then transferred to a Florida-based Cuban photographer, Cristian Aguiar, the following year.

## Editions

The following are the details of the Miss Grand Cuba edition, which was held as a stand-alone pageant only once in 2023.

### Date and venue

| Edition | Date | Final venue | Entrants | Ref. |
| 1st | 20 August 2023 | Tampa Marriott Westshore, Tampa, Florida, United States | 5 | |
| 2nd | 28 March 2025 | Miami, Florida, United States | 10 | |

### Competition result

| Year | Edition | Winner | 1st runner-up | 2nd runner-up | 3rd runner-up | Ref. |
| 2023 | 1st | Sofia Acosta | Lourdes Feliu | Maria Vilches | Yamislaidy García | |

## International competition

The following is a list of Cuban representatives at the Miss Grand International contest.

### Color keys

* : Declared as the winner
* : Ended as a runner-up (Top 5)
* : Ended as a finalist (Top 10)
* : Ended as a semifinalist (Top 20/21)
* : Ended as special awards winner
| Year | Miss Grand Cuba | Title | Placement | Special Awards | National Director |
| 2024 | Lourdes Feliu | 1st runner-up Miss Grand Cuba 2023 | Unplaced | | Cristian Aguiar |
| 2023 | Sofia Acosta | Miss Grand Cuba 2023 | Unplaced | | Daryanne Lees |
| 2022 | Daniela Espinosa | Miss Grand Cuba 2022 | Resigned | Resigned | Julio César Cruz & Faddya Halabi |
| 2022 | Fabién Laurencio | 1st runner-up Nuestra Belleza Latina 2021 | Unplaced | | Julio César Cruz & Faddya Halabi |
| 2021 | Geysel Valliant | Appointed | Unplaced | | Vicar Abel & Miledy de los Santos |
| 2020 | Geysel Vailant | Appointed | Resigned | Resigned | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2020 | Jennifer Sánchez | Appointed | Unplaced | | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2019 | Elaine González | Appointed | Unplaced | | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2018 | Gladys Carredeguas | Appointed | Top 20 | Best in Swimsuit | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2017 | Rachel Vazquez | Appointed | Resigned | Resigned | | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2017 | Yvette Blaess | Finalist Miss World America 2016 | Resigned | Resigned | | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2017 | Lisandra Delgado | Appointed | Unplaced | | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2016 | Merys Navarro | Appointed | Top 20 | | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2015 | María Manzo | Appointed | Unplaced | | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2014 | Daryanne Lees | 1st Runner-up Miss Earth USA 2014 | Winner | | Noemi Meléndez |
| 2013 | Jamillette Gaxiola | 2nd runner-up Senorita Republica Deportiva | Top 10 | | Noemi Meléndez |

## Participating national finalists

The following list is the national finalists of the Miss Grand Cuba pageant, as well as the competition results.
| Represented | 2025 |
| Constanza | Y |
| Distrito Nacional | Y |
| Hermanas Mirabal | Y |
| La Romana | Y |
| La Vega | Y |
| Puerto Plata | Y |
| Punta Cana | Y |
| San Juan | Y |
| Santo Domingo Norte | Y |
| Total | 10 |
| Color keys  : Declared as the winner  : Ended as a 1st runner-up  : Ended as a 2nd runner-up  : Ended as a 3rd runner-up  : Ended as a 4th runner-up  A : Ended as a finalist, semifinalist (N) and unplaced (Y)  × : Ended as withdrew during the competition  × : Ended as no representative ||

## Gallery

* Miss Grand Cuba 2014 Daryanne Lees
* Miss Grand Cuba 2015 María Manzo
* Miss Grand Cuba 2021 Geysel Vailant
* Miss Grand Cuba 2023 Sofía Acosta
* Miss Grand Cuba 2024 Lourdes Feliu