Moved to Miami in 2000, where she was named to the Board of Directors of the Colonial Bank.
Orphaned since she was 3, she claims she got her dead mother's approval for the Miss Universe pageant in her dreams.
In 1992, she became the mayor of the Chacao district in Caracas, being reelected in 1995. Ran for President of Venezuela in the late 90s, but was defeated by Hugo Chávez. Three months later, she was elected governor of Nueva Esparta.