Join us for a special program featuring the Honorary Consuls of San Antonio on June 16, 5:00 p.m. (CDT).
This panel will discuss what it means to be an honorary consul and the role of a honorary consul in San Antonio.
Panelists
Marco A. Barros
Honorary Consul of Chile in San Antonio
Marco A. Barros is the former president/CEO of the San Antonio Area Tourism Council. He has been a resident of San Antonio for the past 32 years. He played an integral part in getting the World Heritage designation (UNESCO) for the San Antonio Missions and has worked with Bexar County on numerous projects assisting the county judge with the use of hotel tax for River Walk improvements and building 13 sports venues.
Marco spent several years working for American Airlines developing new marketing programs for several new Latin American routes and created tour packages for Gray Line Tours of San Antonio.
As a native of Chile, he attended the Catholic University in Santiago in foreign languages and he studied at the University of Texas at El Paso where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. Marco has traveled extensively in Latin America from Chile to Mexico and has assisted various businesses to set up operations in Argentina and Mexico. He managed Mexico Express for over 3 years as part of a marketing program based in San Antonio and Monterrey, Mexico.
As an Honorary Consul for the Government of Chile, a post to assist better business relations between Chile and Texas, Marco assists the Consul General of Chile based in Houston, Texas, on several programs.
He is often invited to speak to Convention Bureaus, Chambers of Commerce and economic development groups on the impact of the tourism in communities and how to use the Hotel Motel Tax. Past presentations have included the Corpus Christi Hotel Association, Rockport/Port Aransas Counties, the Austin CVB, the Rio Grande Valley Chambers as well as the Monterrey (Mexico) CVB, Tourism Board in Chile, Monroe/Detroit communities with National Parks Service and the Warsaw Destination Alliance and Hotel Association in Poland.
In 2011, he was the featured speaker in Monterrey, Mexico for a new State of Nuevo Leon Economic Development and in 2012 he was also invited by the Governor of Zacatecas to speak on Tourism Development to his Economic Team in Zacatecas, Mexico.
In January of 2015, he was elected Chairman of the San Antonio Airport Advisory Commission that advises the City of San Antonio on aviation issues. Barros is presently serving on many city boards and commissions, including assisting the San Antonio Police Department. He also served as Honorary Commander for the Texas Air National Guard based at Lackland AFB.
Damien Watel
Honorary Consul of France in San Antonio
Damien Watel's French upbringing sent him straight to the Ecole de Cuisine Promhote cooking school in Paris.
His Father Jean Pierre , Himself a noted modernist Architect in France and with the love of cuisine and restaurants , was happy to encourage this career move.. An uncle with two restaurants in Dallas gave Watel his American start, and he soon jump-started his career with a restaurant of his own, ‘Watels’. The wandering Watel then came to San Antonio and opened the legendary, Bistro Vatel, dedicated to the simple but sophisticated French food that Watel seems born to cook. Since opening Bistro Vatel in 1999, Chef Watel has quickly become a leader in San Antonio's premiere restaurant circle, adding his Italian creation, Ciao Lavanderia shortly after the Bistro. Chef Watel continued his success with his third concept, a Belgian themed restaurant located in the King William district 'La Frite Belgian Bistro' and a new wine bar, 'Ciao Vino'. These days Damien runs a new location” BISTR09” on Broadway and doubles as France’s Honorary Consul for San Antonio.
Damien has 3 children, Stephanie Harry and Enzo and is married to Lisa, a chef as well.
Robert Braubach
Honorary Consul of Namibia in San Antonio
Robert P. Braubach, based in Texas, appreciates the global needs of clients and is prepared to assist parties entering new foreign markets. He can serve as the necessary "first step" in making critical international business decisions. Whether a company desires to export to overseas markets, locate and enter into an international distribution agreement, or to establish subsidiaries, joint ventures or licensing agreements abroad, an international legal specialist can be indispensable in rendering the necessary advice and formulating effective strategies for coping with changes in the international environment. Texas is the number one exporting state in the United States in 2012 with exports of $216 billion. In 2013, Texas saw an increase of $33.2 billion in goods exports, and an increase of $682 billion in services exports. Texas companies are doing more and more international business transactions
Steve Chiscano
Honorary Consul of Spain in San Antonio
Steve Alfonso Chiscano is a trial attorney with broad experience in commercial litigation. A former shareholder at Davis, Cedillo & Mendoza, Inc. and co-founding member of Gonzalez Chiscano Angulo & Kasson PC, he has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial disputes involving domestic and foreign corporations. Since 1999, Mr. Chiscano has played a major role in lawsuits resulting in over $660 million in judgments on behalf of Mexican companies and over $33 million in judgments or settlements for U.S. companies. He also has successfully defended commercial cases for both U.S. and foreign corporations in excess of $1 billion in claims. In February 2020, the Government of Spain appointed Mr. Chiscano as the Honorary Consul of Spain in San Antonio.
Mr. Chiscano graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1997. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business Administration degrees from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994, majoring in International Business and Spanish. Mr. Chiscano is fluent in Spanish.
Mr. Chiscano is the Texas Bar Foundation’s District 10 Committee Chair and Sustaining Life Fellow and is a board of director of the San Antonio Bar Association. He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Federal Bar Association, and the State Bar of Texas. Mr. Chiscano is the past president of the Law Alumni Association of St. Mary’s University School of Law. He was the chairman of the board of the Historical Centre Foundation formed to preserve and protect the historical San Fernando Cathedral built by Canary Islanders . He was the chairman of the board of San Antonio Academy, an all boy pre kinder through 8th grade military academy.
Andrew Dunrossil
Honorary Consul of United Kingdom in San Antonio
Born London 1953
Educated Eton and Oxford
Kleinwort Benson (British Merchant Bank) 1979-89 (including postings in Chicago and Dallas):
Brundage Management Co. 1990-present
Director and Former Chairman, American Financial Services Association (1999-present)
Executive Committee, Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs
Advisory Board, Council of Scottish Clans and Associations
Former Chairman, Society of Scottish Armigers
Honorary Patron, American-Scottish Foundation
