GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, April 4 (UPI) -- The commander of the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, says Miss Universe and Miss USA visited the camp for the benefit of troops stationed there.
"They were on tour to say `hello and thank you' to the guard force," Navy Rear Adm. David M. Thomas Jr. told The Miami Herald.
Crystle Stewart, Miss USA, and Miss Universe, Dayana Mendoza, of Venezuela were at the camp from March 21 through March 24 on a trip arranged by the USO, which provides entertainment for the U.S. military. Critics said the camp violated the Geneva Conventions ban on allowing detainees to be an object of "public curiosity" by allowing the two beauty queens to see a prisoner compound.
Mendoza wrote about Guantanamo in her blog, describing the water in the bay as "sooo beautiful" and the camp as "very interesting."
Guards told the Herald the women were conservatively dressed and the detainees appeared not to notice them.
