The 90s
1996
Evidently, she impressed former Miss Universe 1987, Cecilia Bolocco of Chile as Vanessa received quite high scores from her. Vanessa was clearly nervous during the final question and she choked on the last part of her answer (the question being, In your opinion, who has been one of the most important women in the world and why?). Nonetheless, she still managed to receive respectable scores and finished 4th overall, with the eventual winner being Alicia Machado of Venezuela (who went on to criticize how Trump treated her during her reign).
However despite her assets, she failed to advance to the top ten that year, but managed to bring home the Herbal Essence Clairol Style Award and came in third for best national costume
Silvia became the second Mexican woman to place under the Trump era advancing to the top ten finishing seventh overall. The winner that night was Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana (It was Botswana's first year of competition too!). Nowadays, Silvia is remembered as having one of the best faces Mexico has ever sent to Miss Universe.
What occurred in Miss Universe 2000 was almost exactly the same as what happened in Miss Universe 1998 three years prior. Leticia Murray, despite not placing in the semifinals, was awarded the Herbal Essence Clairol Style Award and won first place in the national costume competition (similar to what happened to Katty Fuentes). Leticia later went on to represent Mexico in Miss International 2000 where she placed among the Top 15 delegates.
Following a four year drought and Marisol Gonzalez's shocking exclusion from Miss Universe 2003, 21 year old Sinaloa native Rosalva Luna shocked many pageant followers and fans who were not expecting her placement in the Top 15 and instead awaited for the final spot to go to Miss Ukraine, Oleksandra Nikolayenko or Miss Venezuela, Ana Karina Anez. 2004 is remembered as being the trigger behind the infamous "Trump Picks" following Miss Ukraine's shocking exclusion.
First up, MEXICO!
The crowd went wild upon hearing those words come out of Billy Bush's mouth. Laura Elizondo of Tamaulipas had won the right to represent us in the 2005 edition held in Bankok Thailand. Considered one of the most tender faces to represent Mexico at an international level, Laura made her way through the evening gown competition, the swimsuit competition, making it all the way to the Top 5 where she finished as the third runner up.
2005 is regarded by many as having one of the most beautiful Top 5's of all time, being composed of Miss Mexico, Laura Elizondo, Miss Puerto Rico, Cynthia Olivarria, Miss Dominican Republic, Renata Sone, Miss Canada (and the eventual winner) Natalie Glebova, and Miss Venezuela, Monica Spear (R.I.P)
It is curious to know that Miss Mexico and Miss Venezuela regarded each other as being good friends and they ended up answering each other's questions. Laura asked the same question that was asked to Lupita Jones in 1991, "What is one problem your country is going through and what would you do to help solve it?" which caused Miss Venezuela some difficultly to answer it. Also if you look closely, you can see that Laura's earrings do not match, the result of having to change back from her swimsuit to her dress so quickly.
Yet another Nuevo Leon native represented Mexico in Miss Universe, this time in the form of Priscila Perales from Monterrey. Considered as THE favorite of 2006, Priscila caused the crowd to go wild upon being the last one called to the Top 20 and she twirled and strutted her way to the Top 10 falling short of making the Top 5.
Many blame her hairstyle during the evening gown competition for being her downfall, however, not making the Top 5 might have been a blessing in disguise for Priscila, as in 2007 Lupita Jones re-acquired the Miss International franchise and sent Priscila as Mexico's representative where she won the first Miss International crown and the second grand-slam for Mexico overall.
2007
As many of you know Miss Universe 2007 was held at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, the site of the infamous fall of Miss USA and the booing from the crowd that you guys will never let us live down
Anyway, Rosa Maria Ojeda of Sinaloa was Mexico's candidate this year and she had the whole home court advantage thing going for her. She's actually regarded by Mexican pageant fans as one of the more inferior NBM winners of the decade, with many of them preferring to have seen the first runner up, Miss Jalisco, Gladys Castellanos as the national titleholder. Rosa Maria made it through the swimsuit round advancing to the Top 10
Regarded as one of the best Miss Mexico's of all time, Elisa Najera Gualito of Guanajuato made a massive impression in Vietnam due to her towering height and incredible body (She actually won the Queen of Vinpearl Best Body Award). Elisa easily made her way through the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and despite her dress being heavily criticized and compared to a wet bath towel, made it to the Top 5 finishing as the fourth runner up to Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela
Rumor has it that Lupita Jones was so angry with Elisa's placement that she stormed out of the auditorium!
I think we all know how this ended
Ximena was considered as a shoo-in for the finals and although many expected Rozanna Purcell of Ireland or Angela Martini of Albania to win, Ximena made history by winning Mexico's second Miss Universe crown (coincidentally, also in Las Vegas and with a red gown, similar to when Lupita had won 19 years prior).
Despite being criticized as "boring" during her reign or "culturally insensitive" for preferring to wait until she returned to a hotel in India to use the bathroom, Ximena has gone on to become one of the most successful Miss Universe winners and is considered one of the most beautiful winners of all time
Now this is an example of a true success story. When Karina Gonzalez of Aguascalientes was named Nuestra Belleza Mexico 2011, She was incredibly criticized by many of her countrymen as being "fat" and "ugly". However Karina was the one who brought Mexico back to the finals following Karin Ontivero's shocking exclusion in 2011.
I personally believe Karina had everything to make it to the Top 5, however she looked nervous during the evening gown portion and as a result walked way too fast down the runway. Her dress was also far too similar to Ximena's. I suspect it was in an attempt to replicate Lupita and Ximena's victories which also occured in Las Vegas with them wearing red dresses.
Anyway that sums up Mexico's performance since the initiation of the "Trump Era". Karina's placement may in fact be the last one if the rumors of Trump selling his portion of the pageant become reality.
Thanks for reading! and I hope Mexicans won't be called "ungrateful" after making this thread again