The
Spanish International Network (SIN) first, and
Univision later, had a long tradition of organizing large-scale televised national competitions to select their entries to the
OTI Festival, with many of their affiliates organizing local televised competitions to select their entries to the national final. They won the OTI Festival for first time in 1986 with the song "" –which sent a message of unity between the Latin community in the country– sung by a trio composed by the performers Dámaris Carbaugh, and Eduardo Fabián. Their second victory was in the last event in 2000 with the song "" performed by Hermanas Chirino. Apart from their victories, they managed to get two consecutive second places: in 1977 with "" by
Lissette Álvarez, and in 1978 with "" by Susy Leman. They got another second place in 1992 with "" by Carlo de la Cima. In 1981 and 1982, they got third place. The OTI Festival was hosted in the United States on three occasions, the first one in 1983 in the
Constitution Hall of
Washington, D.C., which was presented by
Rafael Pineda and Ana Carlota. This edition of the festival was notorious because the event was opened by a message by the President of the United States,
Ronald Reagan sent to the Spanish speaking community which hailed their contribution to the cultural diversity of the country. The event was also hosted in 1989 in
Miami having the
James L. Knight Convention Center as the venue, and in 1990 at the
Caesars Palace in
Las Vegas. == Participation overview ==