Burson-Marsteller appoints CEO, Chairman and COO for Latin America.

Burson-Marsteller, a global public relations and communications consultancy, announced that it has appointed Ramiro Prudencio to Chief Executive Officer for Latin America and Santiago Hinojosa as Chairman for Latin America. Both Prudencio and Hinojosa will be based in the firm’s Latin American headquarters in Miami and report to Worldwide CEO Mark Penn. Claudia Adriasola, formerly Managing Director of New Business and Corporate Development, will become the region’s Chief Operating Officer. These appointments are effective April 1, 2011.

“Leading Burson-Marsteller Latin America and working with our talented professionals from around the region is always a rewarding experience”

“Latin America is a vital and growing region for Burson-Marsteller,” said Penn. “Our firm already enjoys one of the largest and most established footprints in the region. Santiago has played a central role in establishing Burson-Marsteller’s presence in Latin America during his 13 years as Latin America CEO. I look forward to his continued contributions as Latin American Chairman. Ramiro is a dynamic executive with varied and deep experience throughout Latin America during his 20 years at Burson-Marsteller. I look forward to adding his perspective to the Burson-Marsteller global leadership team.”

During his 20 year tenure with Burson-Marsteller, Prudencio has held a variety of leadership roles including country manager and regional Public Affairs and Corporate/Financial Practice Chair. He will assume leadership of a region with 11 wholly-owned offices and three affiliate offices across 12 countries. Since November, Prudencio has been the region’s Chief Operating Officer working on the agency’s strategic growth plan for Latin America. He spent 12 years as country manager for Burson-Marsteller in Chile (1994 – 1998) and, more recently, Brazil (1998 – 2005). He was responsible for all aspects of the agency’s local operations, from client development and counsel to recruitment and development of the agency’s professional services teams. In Brazil, he led the largest multinational communications consultancy with a staff of more than 60.

Prudencio began his career in the agency’s Washington Public Affairs practice. He has counseled clients such as HP, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, Gerdau, the Chilean farmed salmon industry, Odebrecht, ING, Nestlé and other leading companies. Prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, Prudencio was a legislative aide to former Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson when he served as US Representative from the state of New Mexico. In addition to English, he is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

“Leading Burson-Marsteller Latin America and working with our talented professionals from around the region is always a rewarding experience,” said Hinojosa. “I have had the pleasure of working with Ramiro for many years, and I am confident together we will continue to grow and make sure Burson-Marsteller continues to be the leading agency in Latin America.”

Since 1998, Hinojosa led the region as Chief Executive Officer and President. He directed key public relations efforts in Latin America for Burson-Marsteller’s multinational clients spanning nearly all industries including the Mexico Tourism Board, VISA, Club Med, IBM, Nextel, Symantec, Scherring, Johnson & Johnson, Accenture, Astra Zeneca and others. In his new role as Chairman, Hinojosa will work with CEO Prudencio on developing the firm’s regional strategy for the Latin American region.

From 1996 until 1998, Hinojosa served as Regional Managing Director for DMB&B Americas, based in Mexico City. Previously, he acted as Managing Director of DMB&B’s Mexican operations, Noble DMB&B, working with clients that included Procter & Gamble, Mars, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Mexico Tourism, Philips, Bancomer, Jose Cuervo and CPC. He spent 17 years with McCann-Erickson Worldwide having worked in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Mexico. In Peru, Chile and Mexico, he served as Managing Director.

As regional COO, Adriasola will be charged with managing much of the region’s day-to-day operations. Prior to leading new business and corporate development, she was the human resources director for Latin America. Before that Adriasola was country manager for Burson-Marsteller Chile and, later, Mexico. Adriasola joined the company in 1997 as Director for Corporate, Public Affairs and Financial Practices. Before joining Burson-Marsteller, Claudia led the Communications Department of the National Women’s Service, an agency of the Chilean government devoted to the advancement of women.