Casinos were allowed in Brazil until 1946. After that, gaming continued to exist, only in hiding. Now, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, has joined Rio de Janeiro’s Mayor, Marcelo Crivella, on a catechizing mission. Both want to convert President Jair Bolsonaro to be a supporter of the bill that legalizes the gaming sector in the country again.
The bill that is ready to be voted in the House provides for the operation of casinos within integrated resorts. Maia and Crivella want the first of them to be built in the city of Rio, in Porto Maravilha. In this model, the gaming house would occupy about 5% of a complex that brings together hotels, convention center, concert halls and shopping.
Bolsonaro's resistance, as he todl to the Mayor, was due to fears of going against evangelical voters who would not approve of the return of the activity. Crivella responded by saying that he himself is bishop of the Universal Church and that in his view the current priority is to create jobs and increase tax revenues, with no religious impediment to the project.
"If you don't want to sin, you just don't have to go to the casino," Crivella would have told Bolsonaro, according to reports heard by DIÁRIO DO PORTO.
There are several proposals to build a casino in Rio, but the most ambitious project was aired a few months ago on social networks, showing that an artificial island would be built in front of the current warehouses of Cais da Gamboa. In the image it is possible to see buildings, bridges, and piers for mooring ships and leisure boats.
Deputy Herculano Passos (MDB-SP), who chairs the Joint Parliamentary Front of Tourism, argues that the ban on casinos in Brazil has encouraged illegal gambling and the evasion of Brazilian tourists seeking legal gambling abroad.
Estimates released by the deputy indicate that illegal gaming move about R$ 34 billion (US$ 8.3bn) per year in Brazil. In comparison, the legalization of the activity could move R$ 66 billion (US$ 16bn), with revenues of R$ 30 billion (US$ 7.35bn) in taxes per year, and create about 400,000 jobs.
Leaders of international groups follow the evolution of initiatives for the return of casinos in Brazil and have already come to talk with authorities in the country. Who made the most progress in this approach work was businessman Sheldon Adelson, president of the LVS group, which has casinos in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore. He was one of the main funders of the current US president's campaign, Donald Trump, whose proximity to Bolsonaro may also be a factor in favor of legalization.
When someone mentions Adelson's business, it is easy to think of Marina Bay Sands, an icon of contemporary architecture. This resort contributed to increase the number of foreign tourists in Singapore from 11.5 million to 17.5 million between 2010 and 2017. In Brazil, the annual average of external visitors is stagnant at about 6.5 million.
Source: GMB / Diario do Porto
