TWO years ago, in 1996, she was crowned Miss Universe. These days Alicia Machado is an aspiring soap-opera actress. This week she was due to tackle her hardest role: convincing the authorities that she did not make death threats to a judge who had ordered the arrest of her boyfriend. The real-life soap, which—sex apart—already featured suicide and an alleged attempt at murder, has held Venezuelans enthralled.

They had expected to see Miss Machado make her debut as “Samantha”, a country girl who goes to the big city. Instead, she has been making regular appearances before court officials to answer questions, and on nationwide television to proclaim her innocence.

The male lead in this complex plot is Miss Machado's rugged boyfriend, Juan Rafael Rodriguez Reggeti. He had a sister, who, eight months pregnant, jumped off a fifth-floor balcony. He, allegedly, blaming her husband for the suicide, sought revenge by firing two shots at him just after the funeral. The husband was hit but survived. Mr Rodriguez fled in a car driven, say the police, by Miss Machado.

The investigating judge, Maximiliano Fuenmayor, issued an arrest warrant for Mr Rodriguez. But Miss Machado, who claimed she was ill at home at the time, seemed to be in the clear, for the moment anyway. It was a short moment. Within hours, Mr Fuenmayor had a telephone call from her. He says she threatened to ruin his career and have him killed. She admits she rang, but says it was merely to thank him for his unbiased pursuit of justice. Mr Fuenmayor says she in fact threatened him with her powerful friends, from—supposedly—President Rafael Caldera down.

This week Mr Rodriguez was out of sight, perhaps out of the country. The husband too had vanished. And the former Miss Universe, previously best known (beauty queens are ten a penny in Venezuela) for putting on 15 kilos within weeks of winning her title, risks up to 18 months in prison for making death threats. She'd better rehearse well.