MEXICO: Bets Doubled on Legalisation of Casinos

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Apr 14 2004 (IPS) - The Mexican government and lawmakers are staking their bets – despite opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and conservative groups – on authorising casino activity, reviving a legislative game lost a decade ago.

Mexico is by no means a casino-free territory. There are around a thousand gaming centres throughout the country: some authorised by decree, the rest are illegal.

Almost 10 years after a frustrated plan to legalise casinos, the idea has returned in a legislative bill that underscores how gaming could be a boon to tourism, an industry that contributes 9.5 billion dollars to the national economy annually.

Mexico is tenth among the world’s leading tourist destinations in terms of revenues generated.

Globally, gambling moves 500 to 550 billion dollars annually, with at least one-fifth being Latin America’s share. Mexico is among the countries in this region that prohibit the functioning of casinos.

"We have to take advantage of the potential of casinos, and place Mexico among the safe and attractive destinations for gamblers," legislator Margarita Martínez, member of the tourism commission in the Chamber of Deputies, told IPS.

According to a copy of the bill to which IPS had access, the gaming centres would be regulated and monitored by a commission comprising representatives of the government, the attorney general’s office and the legislative branch, as well as independent citizens.

Mechanisms would also be in place to limit bets and to thwart the use of ill-gotten money in gambling.

Furthermore, it would be prohibited to place bets on any activity that "constitutes a crime or a violation of morals… or the public order." The entrepreneurs authorised to operate casinos must present complete financial reports every three months.

The legislative initiative, prepared with the consent of the Vicente Fox administration and most lawmakers, will be up for a two-week public debate beginning next week before being presented for the vote.

The non-governmental group "Say No to Casinos", with a membership from academia and several conservative organisations, announced that it would do whatever possible to prevent the law from passing.

Daniel Olivares, head of the anti-casino association, says that Mexico should not legalise the gaming halls, a business related to money laundering and narcotrafficking.

"The casino operators have turned to lobbying services that have been dedicated to spreading lies and disinformation with the aim of fooling the public and the legislative deputies, who they have blinded with propaganda and free trips," Olivares said in a conversation with IPS.

"To prevent Mexico from becoming a prisoner to the casinos and gambling addicts, we will stage mobilisations and a strong lobbying effort among the lawmakers and the government," he said.

The Catholic Church is also against legalising casinos, saying the gambling halls will attract prostitution, money laundering and corruption.

Although a law in force since the 1930s bans casino operations, in fact there are some 1,000 active gaming centre in Mexico, some of which were authorised through special decrees issued since the 1980s.

"The intention of the bill is to give Mexico new impetus in tourism, and to regulate what is already functioning, albeit without oversight and without providing any money to the government," said Martínez, of the centrist opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

In addition to attracting tourists, casinos would provide net annual revenue of more than 200 million dollars, while the state would see more than 250 million dollars through taxes, she said.

In 1995, the Ernesto Zedillo government (1994-2000), of the PRI, proposed authorising casinos, but was unable to convince all of the political parties of the virtues of the bill – and came under fire from the Catholic Church and conservative sectors, like the new bill is now.

Fox, however, does not openly support the latest casino proposal, which this time around has the backing of Mexican tourism associations, but his administration has sent signs that a move of this type would be beneficial for the country.

Approval of the bill seems more feasible than ever because most of the political forces represented in Congress have already indicated they would be willing to vote for it.

"I don’t think we need to be scared of something like gaming. It is present in 140 or 150 countries around the world. There is gambling everywhere and everywhere there are casinos," said Rodolfo Elizondo, Mexico’s secretary of tourism.

Casinos would be a complementary attraction to what the country already offers in terms of tourism, and that is enough, he said.

In 2003, international tourism generated 9.5 billion dollars for Mexico, 6.8 percent more than the previous year.

As a result of that increase, Mexico moved up to tenth place in the world in international tourism revenues, reports the World Tourism Organisation.