Cristal Montañez

Miss Venezuela 1977

Cristal is the former Miss Venezuela 1977. She represented her country Venezuela in the Miss Universe pageant held in Dominican Republic. There she met personalities such as President Joaquin Balaguer, Diana Ross and designer Roberto Cavalli, among others.

During her reign as Miss Venezuela she initiated a campaign on a national level and in conjunction with the Venezuelan Tennis Federation officials and presented her proposal to the government’s Department of Youth (Ministro de la Juventud) to popularize the sport by building more public tennis courts and facilitating trainers to teach the basics rules of the sport and engage the youth as a way to develop their mind, physical condition and keep out of trouble.  The next step was to request the support of the Department of Justice (Ministerio de Justicia) to help fund this initiative at national level. As a result, several tennis courts were built in public places, and young people had the opportunity to experience and play tennis.

She also became a volunteer member of the Comité de Damas Voluntarias del Patronato Nacional de Ancianos Inválidos (National Volunteer Women Committee for the Disabled Elderly).

International Modeling

Cristal began her career as a model with the Astor Baby Blue of Lois Jeans campaign, which gave her national exposure. Her face appeared in dozens of magazines in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico. She traveled with Miss Universe, Janelle Commissiong, to the Colombian cities of Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena, Manizales and Cucuta to launch the Pat Primo, Catalina, and Max Factor’s 1977 Fall Collection to raise funds to benefit the Cancer Association.

In Venezuela, she worked next to the famous Musiú Lacavalerie as the model of the game TV show “El Batazo de la Suerte”, which aired every Saturday morning on Channel 4 Venevisión and was a regular guest and interviewer in several radio programs.

Cristal travelled to Mexico where she promoted tourism between the Island of Margarita in the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Mexico. She had the opportunity to work with President Miguel Aleman’s team in the Ministry of Tourism.  While living in Mexico, Cristal was the image for the Max Factor Whip Crème campaign for Latin America. She became the lead model for Soft & Dri, Grand Marnier, Chevrolet GM, Kent, Cache, Four Seasons, Darling, campaigns among other brands.

Global Citizen and International Human Freedom Activist

Cristal’s work as a human freedom and pro-democracy activist is highlighted at the Freedom Collection in at George W. Bush Presidential Center.  She participated in international networks, such as the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), Asia Pacific Philanthropic Consortium (AAPC), Global Philanthropists Circle, The Synergos Institute, Salzburg Global Seminar Session 465, an important global meeting that crafted a common framework and identified strategies to leverage more effectively philanthropic investments in women and girls.  

Her work was instrumental in the success of the Women's Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming "Plan Bee Project" and its global impact and recognition, including the prestigious BBC / Newsweek Magazine 2008 World Challenge Competition Global Award, Clinton Global Initiative Featured Commitment,  and the Jefferson Awards Youth Service Challenge in 2012.

Currently, she serves on the Mayor’s Advisory Council of New Americans & Immigrants Communities (MACNAIC), Houston-Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) Board of Directors; and International Board of Directors and Powerful Women International (PWI) Advisory Board. She is a member e-Club Rotary Houston District 5890, Texas Executive Women (TEW), the Houston Committee on Foreign Relations (HCFR), Sister Cities of Houston (SCH), and Sister Cities International (SCI).

Cristal is a human freedom pro-democracy activist known for her work defending Venezuelan’s human, civil and political rights and denouncing electoral fraud. Her work also extends to the Eastern Hemisphere where she is involved in economic development and education projects as a way to empower vulnerable communities and decrease the penetration of extremism in areas of high levels of poverty and illiteracy in Pakistan.

In 2002, in the midst of the Venezuelan crisis under the Hugo Chavez’s administration, she joined the Resistencia Civil de Venezolanos en el Exterior (RECIVEX 2002-2008) and served as the International Coordinator.  She followed the work of Dr. Gene Sharp founder of the Albert Einstein Institute. Cristal has collaborated with Gene Sharp, his Executive Director Jamila Raqib and his team in the promotion and distribution of writings and translations on the technique of nonviolent struggle to thousands of activists, including their application to help organize the civic society.

Cristal worked in conjunction with other organizations to mobilize the Venezuelan and international communities in protest against violations of human rights, freedom of speech and fraudulent elections in Venezuela. Also, she was elected president of the International Venezuelan Council for Democracy (IVCD 2003-2008), an organization dedicated to advancing democratic values and institutions, preserving Venezuela's tradition of free and fair elections, and promoting accountability in government in accordance to the principles established in the Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Cristal continues her work as a pro-democracy human freedom activist with diverse groups in Venezuela and abroad by educating on strategic nonviolent action against oppressive regimes following the teachings of Dr. Gene Sharp and the Albert Einstein Institution.  

Her blog Venezuela: Liberación y Transición contains information on nonviolent resistance, civic organization and strategy to educate activists about techniques they can use to liberate Venezuela from dictatorship to democracy   

Humanitarian and Advocate

Her volunteer work and associations have included national and international organizations.  As members of National Charity (NCL) Blue Bonnet Chapter. She served on both the Advisory and the Regional Board of Directors of UNICEF in Houston (2000-2008).  Working with Hashoo Foundation, Cristal has led several emergency relief initiatives in respond to natural disasters in Pakistan, including the historical 2010 floods which displaced more than 22 million people.

Cristal participated in the marketing and development of various global campaigns and created founded the Bear Hugs for Venezuela Program - a U.S. Fund for UNICEF- sponsored, community-based volunteer donation program benefiting the children who were victims of the devastating floods in Venezuela of December 1999.  The program provided more than 65,000 “teddy bears” to help lessen some of the psychological trauma caused by this disaster.