Features Latin America

Times change for any industry, and Philip Morris International—the world’s most successful cigarette company—has long acknowledged the old axiom about smoking being hazardous to one’s health. It is aiming for a smoke-free future by promoting products such as e-cigarettes and technology that heats but doesn’t burn. That makes it an exciting time for Adelaida Adames, […]

Just a little over 30 years old as a financial institution—and only seven of those as a validated bank—Grupo Financiero BASE is downright young when it comes to the banking industry: Its competitors and contemporaries have many more decades, very often centuries, of experience behind them. But youth also means there is ample opportunity for […]

He joined the legal department of Cotemar, Mexico’s dominant oilfields services provider, at a most challenging time in 2013, when petroleum prices were at a low. The situation wasn’t much better three years later, when Alejandro Fernandez Ramirez-Buendia was promoted to head of legal and general counsel, but much of the reason for his hiring […]

There’s more to Hooters than meets the eye, although most patrons of the restaurant chain would admit to being drawn to the sight of waitresses in revealing attire. Alejandro Solis certainly recognizes the visual aspect as a selling point, but as the holding company he leads, Grupo Dival, expands the iconic Hooters brand as well […]

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve met a CEO or two. The same goes for general counsels. Even if you haven’t met any, you know about them. Seeing someone wear both hats at once? You might’ve just found a corporate unicorn. Only, you needn’t scour some ethereal forest to find Alvaro Martinez. He’s out […]

The trademark of a successful corporate lawyer? It’s not just legal and business savvy, answers Carlos Landazabal Angeli, who, since November 2012, has served as General Electric’s legal leader for South America’s Andean region, as well as Central America and the Caribbean. Anticipation is just as important, the soft-spoken general counsel tells Vanguard from his […]

Daniel Perez-Cirera rarely feels nervous anymore. Nervous was going to bed Sunday night ahead of another 80-hour workweek, or flying to Finland for that first meeting at Nokia headquarters. As he walks once again into the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) in Mexico City, Perez-Cirera isn’t gripped with doubts. But he’s aware of the […]

A job offer like this comes around maybe once in a career—if you’re lucky. Having just turned 30, Daniel Pérez -Umaña understood, both professionally and personally, the weight and stakes of what was in front of him: a job as general counsel for BAC Credomatic, one of Central America’s largest banks. And yet, he hesitated […]

For most of us, using Uber—an app that literally puts transportation at your fingertips—represents the pinnacle of modern convenience. Francisco Pinilla doesn’t think that superlative goes nearly far enough. As legal director and head of legal transactions for the company’s Latin America operations (LATAM for short), Pinilla understands how Uber’s model and methods have not […]

After more than a couple of decades of high-profile in-house legal roles at The Coca-Cola Company and Sony Interactive Entertainment, Gonzalo Ruiz has been pondering what will happen in the second half of his professional life. The affable and well-spoken man recently moved to San Mateo, California, with his wife Claudia and their three children […]