BORDER LINES: Monsanto hires Wal-Mart PRO

BUENOS AIRES: North American chemical and biotechnology giant Monsanto has hired Federico Ovejero from US supermarket chain Wal-Mart. Ovejero joins as regional manager of government affairs and PR in South America, covering Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. He was previously PR manager at Wal-Mart in Argentina. Part of his brief will be to handle PR over genetically modified crops. Wal-Mart is actively recruiting for Ovejero's replacement. It recently hired Washington DC-based public affairs firm Kissinger McLarty, headed by lobbyist and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, in place of incumbent Nueva Comunicacion.