Paraguay 2026
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
Legal Director for the Central and Andean South region | American Tower
Head of Legal & Compliance | Itaú Seguros Paraguay S.A.
Senior Lawyer | South American River Company
Head of Legal Affairs and Compliance Officer B. Braun Medical Paraguay | B. Braun Medical
Senior Legal Manager – Argentina & Paraguay | American Tower
Legal Advisor | Sudameris Securities Casa de Bolsa y Sudameris Asset Management
Legal and Documentation Manager | ZUBA Paraguay
Legal Director | Avanza Desarrollos Inmobiliarios
Advisor to the Presidency at PETROPAR | Petróleos Paraguayos
Regional legal, compliance, governance and business partner | Noventiq
Director - Legal and Regulatory Affairs | Telecom Personal
Legal Director and Associate Comapny Secretary | CONMEBOL
Director of legal operations | Torrecom Partners
On behalf of The Legal 500, I am pleased to introduce the GC Powerlist: Paraguay 2026.
This edition recognises general counsel and in-house legal leaders who are helping to define the strategic direction of some of the country’s most significant organisations. Our research this year reflects a legal community operating with growing confidence: across multiple industries, in an increasingly regulated environment, and against a backdrop of steady economic development, evolving compliance demands and technological change that is reshaping how legal teams work.
Across financial services, telecommunications, energy, agribusiness, real estate and industrial groups, Paraguay’s GCs are no longer confined to technical advisory roles. They are embedded in business decisions, regulatory negotiations and governance agendas, often operating directly alongside boards and executive leadership. What stands out across this year’s cohort is a consistent emphasis on early involvement, commercial pragmatism and a clear-eyed approach to risk.
Aníbal Gómez de la Fuente, Legal Director at Frigorífico Concepción, captures the operating philosophy that runs through many of this year’s contributions:
‘The role of the legal department is to transform risk into a manageable variable, allowing the company to grow sustainably and predictably.’
It is a theme that runs through this edition, across sectors and team sizes: legal as a driver of growth, not an obstacle to it. It reflects a broader shift in how in-house legal functions are positioned within Paraguayan organisations: less as a final checkpoint, more as a function integrated from the outset.
The question of how legal teams add value, rather than simply manage exposure, is one this year’s contributors return to repeatedly. Carlos Cazaña Portella, Head of Legal Affairs at Enex Paraguay, offers a characteristically direct answer:
‘A General Counsel is not required to know everything, but to know where the response could be found, to transmit certainty on the consequences of actions, and to contribute ideas with creativity and pragmatism.’
On artificial intelligence, the contributions this year are less concerned with whether to adopt AI than with how to do so responsibly. Ana Elizabeth Garrido González, In-house Counsel at Constructora Heisecke, identifies a tension that many in the profession will recognise:
‘Speed can create an illusion of certainty. That is why we keep human judgement at the centre.’
It is a precise observation, and one that reflects a maturity in how Paraguay’s legal community is approaching technological change: neither resistant nor uncritical, but disciplined.
Taken together, these perspectives reflect a legal market in confident evolution. Paraguay’s leading GCs are increasingly measured not only by technical command, but by their ability to translate complexity into action, engage constructively with regulators, and position their teams as genuine contributors to business strategy. That is no longer an aspiration here. For the professionals featured in this edition, it is simply how they work.
Legal 500 returned to Hong Kong for the launch of the GC Powerlist: Hong Kong 2026, held in partnership with Jones Day. The reception brought together leading general counsel from across the city for an evening celebrating their achievements, leadership, and influence within their organisations.
Joelle Lau, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s Hong Kong Office, opened the event with welcoming remarks.
She was followed by two keynote speakers. Julian Velarde, APAC General Counsel at BNP Paribas, discussed what it means to hold the role of general counsel in the Asia-Pacific region today. Beryl Sit, Head of Legal, Investment Banking, Managing Director at CITIC Securities, explored the future of legal teams, sharing her perspective on how they are evolving.
Legal 500 thanks Jones Day for its support in recognising Hong Kong’s outstanding general counsel community and congratulates all those included in the GC Powerlist.
