de la Rua for President of Argentina, Jorge Batlle for President of Uruguay, Vicente Fox for President of Mexico, and Raphael Trotman for President of Guyana." Many Latin American political consultants have also led political campaigns outside of their native countries. One such example is Brazilian political consultant João Santana, who simultaneously led three winning presidential campaigns in Latin America: Danilo Medina, in the Dominican Republic; Hugo Chávez, in Venezuela; and José Eduardo dos Santos, in Angola, in the African continent. Venezuelan political strategist JJ Rendon (who lives in United States), has also been recognized internationally, having been ranked as one of the top five most prominent Latin American consultants by the U.S.-based publication Campaigns & Elections (Latin American edition) and who was the 2014 winner of The Victory Awards for his work as the lead strategist of successful presidential campaigns of Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia (including his reelection campaign in 2014), Porfirio Lobo and Juan Orlando Hernández in Honduras and Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico, among others. João Santana has been described by the news magazine Veja as "capable of mapping out the weaknesses of adversaries with an acupuncturist’s precision." Rendon has been described by Miami New Times as the "Latin America's Karl Rove". Criticisms Scandals As political consulting has become more prevalent, consultants have become subject to increasing scrutiny and involvement in spotlight scandals as journalists have devoted considerable attention to their activities. Some successful political consultants, such as James Carville and Newt Gingrich, capitalize on their consulting fame to become professional pundits. Such political consultants routinely appear on television news programs, write books and are treated as social media celebrities. Some detractors accuse political consultants of putting their own interests and images ahead of their clients. Some consultants allege that too many consultants put their own financial interests ahead of the campaigns they are hired to serve, take on too many clients, or focus too much energy on building their own reputations. Criticism Critics of the political consulting industry blame consultants for what they see as problems in the American election system. Consultant salaries have risen, which has increased the cost of political campaigns. "Critics of consulting's influence on politics say that changes to the campaign landscape have further entrenched certain consultants, regardless of their track records". Political consultants may be opposed to low-budget campaigns of grassroots candidates. Activist groups charge that political consultants are a