SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) – South America’s latest beauty queen won’t be campaigning abroad for world peace any time soon, unless, of course, she’s granted early parole.

Angelica Macua, a statuesque Angolan serving five years on international drug smuggling charges, on Thursday was voted Miss Penitentiary 2005 after a six-hour contest pitting 40 women inmates from 10 prisons around Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo.

“People told me, ‘You’re tall; you should enter the contest,’ so that’s why I entered,” Macua said. “I’ve always been interested in fashion.”

Prison officials came up with the idea of a beauty contest last year as a way of trying to boost inmates’ self-confidence.

The women, serving sentences for crimes from armed robbery to drug trafficking, were vying to be named Miss Penitentiary 2005 – a title that brings a $160 prize and a break from dreary routine.

Last year’s winner, Fernanda Maria de Jesus, gained early release months after her victory, but prison officials insist the shortened sentence had nothing to do with her winning the title.

Judges include celebrities, soccer players and journalists, and there are prizes in three other categories, writing, public speaking and congeniality.

Peru and Colombia also hold beauty contests in prisons. Sao Paulo’s is one of the largest, drawing from its female population of almost 4,000 inmates.