United States in the OTI Festival

The participation of the United States in the OTI Festival began at the third OTI Festival in 1974. The participating broadcasters representing the country were the Spanish International Network (SIN) until 1986 and Univision since 1987, which were members of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI). Since their debut, they participated in all twenty-six editions. They won the festival two times: in 1986 and 2000; and they hosted the event three times: in 1983, 1989, and 1990.

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 "Todos" –which sent a message of unity between the Latin community in the country– sung by a trio composed by the performers Dámaris Carbaugh, Miguel Ángel Guerra and Eduardo Fabián. Their second victory was in the last event in 2000 with the song "Mala hierba" performed by Hermanas Chirino.^[1]

Apart from their victories, they managed to get two consecutive second places: in 1977 with "Si hay amor vendrá" by Lissette Álvarez, and in 1978 with "Ha vuelto ya" by Susy Leman. They got another second place in 1992 with "No te mueras, América" 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.