Tourism Minister Marcelo Álvaro Antonio said at a ministerial meeting last April 22 that Brazil should "discuss the resorts integrated with casinos. It is not legalization of whole gambling, it is not bingo, it is not slots, it is not ... it is about integrated resorts," he said. The speech prompted a quick reaction from the Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves, who considered the idea a "pact with the devil." The episode occurred in the first semester and illustrates how the discussions around the liberation of gaming in Brazil divide the base of Bolsonar’s government.
The debate over the legalization of casinos and other games of chance has existed in the country for decades. And in 2020, it was not restricted to the first semester. The topic returned to the discussions in Congress in view of the need for the federal government to fund social programs for the coming year without hurting the spending ceiling. The argument is that gaming was going to generate taxes and jobs.
Another element that stimulates the resumption of the subject is the fact that one of the main defenders of the idea in Congress is Senator Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), author of a proposition on the subject, and who has become one of the greatest allies of president Jair Bolsonaro in the Legislative. The resistance of the evangelical group to the theme, however, is permanent and shows an obstacle to the legalization of casinos and other games of chance.
The Ministry of Tourism informed Gazeta do Povo, through a note, that it conducts discussions on the subject with other segments of the government and with deputies and senators. "The topic is being debated with the Brazilian parliament and with society. It is a discussion that involves several other government agencies, so that together we can build the best model for Brazil," reports the note.
Moment is ideal and evangelicals can be convinced, says rapporteur
Senator Angelo Coronel (PSD-BA) estimates that the release of gaming could lead to the creation of 700 thousand direct jobs and 600 thousand indirect jobs in Brazil, in addition to generating a new source of tax revenue for the country. The parliamentarian's proposal is more ambitious than that of the Minister of Tourism: his idea is to legalize not only casinos, but other betting mechanisms such as slot machines, bingos, and jogo do bicho.
"There is a trend that defends only the liberation of casinos. But this is an action that would bring income only within four or five years. And Brazil needs resources immediately. That is why we defend access to other gaming verticals," says the parliamentarian, who is rapporteur for a bill that is being processed in the Senate on the subject.
For Colonel, the current moment is "ideal" to discuss the matter. He believes that the need to seek the recovery of the national economy after the coronavirus pandemic and the search for resources for the ‘Renda Cidadã’ (Citizen Income), a program that the Bolsonaro government wants to implement to replace ‘Bolsa Família’ aid, may encourage Congress to vote in favor of the initiative.
The senator believes that even the opposition of evangelicals to the idea can be overcome. "We are going to show the evangelical group that the release of the sector can help to alleviate the hunger of people who live in famine, in a state of poverty. I do not see how the group can go against a proposal that will bring money to people who do not have what to eat,” he says.
Coronel says he believes that an eventual proposal on the liberation of games of chance will have a favorable vote from all federal deputies and senators from Bahia. The state is one of the main tourist hubs in Brazil.
Gambling "shouldn't even be discussed", says Feliciano
The idea that evangelicals can change their minds about gambling is rejected by Congressman Marco Feliciano (Republicanos-SP), deputy leader of the Bolsonaro government in Congress. "My position on gambling remains unyielding. I am against it and that does not change," he says. "For us [evangelicals] the legalization of gambling is an issue that shouldn't even be discussed."
Feliciano alleges that he is not only against the proposal, but also received from Bolsonaro a signal that any project with this content would be vetoed. "I was in an audience with President Bolsonaro and he reaffirmed me that he is against the legalization of gambling and said he will veto a proposal to that effect that is approved by Congress," says Feliciano.
The deputy also calls "opportunists" the parliamentarians who use the economic recovery speech to vote in favor of the legalization of gambling. "They will use everything, including the pandemic, to justify the unjustifiable," he said.
What is really underway
The legalization of gambling appears on the list of repeated debates in the National Congress, along with topics such as the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility, the regulation of the lobby and political reform, for example. These are issues in which the arguments presented by both sides are known and are repeated over the years, without the Chamber and Senate really reaching conclusions.
As an example, one of the projects that Congress has on the subject was presented in the Chamber in 1991, by ex-deputy Renato Vianna (PMDB-SC). The parliamentarian's proposal sought to end the criminalization of the ‘jogo do bicho’. Technically, the project is eligible for voting by the House plenary at any time, but there have been no actions on it since 2016.
More recently - and possibly prone to approval - are two proposals that are running in the Senate. One is that of Senator Ciro Nogueira, presented in 2014. Another is authored by Roberto Rocha (PSDB-MA) and was filed in 2019. There is a possibility that the two projects will be unified, to speed up the process.
Source: Gazeta do Povo
