LIMA, Peru -- A diplomatic storm is brewing between Peru and Bolivia. Bolivia's president has accused Peru of thievery. Peru's Congress issued a bristling denial. Bolivian diplomats are threatening to take the dispute to an international tribunal at The Hague.

The two Andean neighbors are tussling over a costume in the Miss Universe pageant.

Last week, in the event's national-costume competition, Peru's candidate, Karen Schwarz, wore an elaborately embroidered outfit with a massive horned headpiece. It was inspired by practitioners of a timeless Andean ritual known as La Diablada, the Devil's Dance.

Bolivia's Culture Minister Pablo Groux said what's really fiendish about the costume is that it's a rip-off of Bolivian culture. He maintains La Diablada originated in the 12,000-foot-high Bolivian city of Oruro and that Peru's imitation is threatening the national brand -- and the tourist industry. Bolivia formally protested to Peru's government and says it has protested to the Miss Universe pageant. A new queen will be crowned in the Bahamas Sunday.

Peru's foreign minister, José Antonio García Belaúnde, argues that Peruvians have also boogied to La Diablada for ages. "Culture doesn't have borders," he said. In a show of support for Ms. Schwarz, some Peruvian lawmakers recently lumbered out of their cubicles and tried performing the whirling devil's dance in front of Peru's Congress.