Dow Jones Newswires reorganizes Latin American ops

Steve Wisnefski, senior editor of Americas for Dow Jones Newswires, made the following staff announcement on Wednesday:

I am pleased to announce Santiago Perez has been appointed real-time Latin America editor and Charles Roth will become lead writer for a soon-to-be-launched Wall Street Journal blog on Latin America.

Santiago, who currently serves as chief of the WSJ/DJN bureau in Madrid, will be based in his hometown of Mexico City and oversee a team of nearly 30 reporters in eight countries. He will work closely with WSJ Latin America Bureau Chief David Luhnow.

Prior to moving to Spain in mid-2004, Santiago was a reporter and deputy bureau chief for Dow Jones Newswires in Mexico City for nearly seven years. Santiago began his career with Dow Jones in 1996 in New York, as a translator and editor for the Servicio Dow Jones Americas Spanish-language news service.

Charlie has served as the Latin America editor for Newswires since 2005. In his new role, he will add a new dimension to our coverage of the region with the launch of a blog focused on economics and business.

Before becoming Latin America editor, Charlie served for four years as a New York-based special writer on emerging markets, with a special emphasis on Latin America. He also served for more than two years as Venezuela bureau chief. Charlie began his career with Dow Jones in 1996 as a staff reporter in Malaysia.

Also, the team of eight real-time translators/editors based in Santiago, Chile, who currently report to the Latin America editor, will join the WSJ Americas team, headed by Cristina Aby-Azar in New York. The move to put all the translation functions under one umbrella will ensure common standards are applied across platforms.

All the changes should take effect by the end of the year. Please join me in wishing Santiago, Charlie and Cristina success in their new and expanded roles.