After she won the 1959 Miss Guatemala, she joined the Guatemalan Party of Labour and became romantically involved with its leader, Leonardo Castillo Johnson.

She went onto compete in the Miss Universe pageant in Long Beach, California the following year in 1959, but ultimately lost the title to Akiko Kojima of Japan.

Following her success in pageantry, in 1962, Cruz was persecuted by the Guatemalan Government, due to her activism and opposition to the dictatorship of Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes, and joined a guerrilla front.

[3] Cruz was arrested following a traffic violation but was released after the PGT and Fuerzas Armadas Rebeldes (FAR) made threats towards the judge presiding over her case.

[4] Shortly after her release, she was kidnapped and then, on 11 January 1968, her body was found, naked, with signs of torture and sexual assault, at the foot of a bridge near Escuintla.