# Young Cuban Amys Nápoles Triumphs as Miss Teen Universe in Arizona

**Date:** 09/14/2023

With the aspiration of one day representing Cuba in Miss Universe, Cuban teenager Amys Nápoles has celebrated in grand fashion her triumph in the Miss Teen Universe pageant in Arizona, where she was crowned absolute beauty queen.

In an interview with Telemundo, Amys Nápoles recounted how she was able to fulfill a great dream she had since she was very young, when she lived in Cuba with her grandmother: becoming a model. Her triumph today would not have been possible if her parents had not made the difficult decision to leave the island when she was still 10 years old.

It was not until age 16, in 2021, that the young Cuban arrived in the United States to reunite with her parents. She recounts that she did not know any English and felt excluded, but through hard work and perseverance she managed to graduate from high school and many opportunities opened up for her.

"I would put myself in the living room to walk, to talk to myself. Every time I talked to my mom from Cuba I would tell her: 'When I go there I want to be a model,'" said Amys, who initially felt the difficulties of being an immigrant in a highly competitive industry.

In a post celebrating the victory, the young woman admitted that she could not believe "that the dream I had 9 years ago is becoming a reality." "A year ago I was in Cuba asking God for an opportunity to make my dreams come true and unfortunately I had to leave an entire life behind to achieve them," she wrote in the caption of a photo where she holds the Cuban flag.

"I have experienced poverty and oppression just as 11 million Cubans are experiencing it right now. I will not give up until my voice is heard globally," she concluded, not before adding the motto "Patria y Vida."
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