Legislation

Brazil – Chief of Staff reaffirms Brazil’s stance on gambling

By Phil - 27 September 2019

The Presidential Chief of Staff Onyx Lorenzoni has revealed more about the government’s position when it comes to the future of gambling in Brazil.

During an event held by the Trade Association of Porto Alegre (ACPA) last week and responding to a question put forward by businessman Eduardo Oltramari about the possibility of legalizing casinos, Lorenzoni said that the policy gaining the most traction within the government was to allow each state the power to decide whether or not to allow gambling.

“That would speed up the process of setting up casinos, especially in tourist areas,” said Onyx.

Lorenzoni’s comments shed more light on the government’s stance and it looks increasingly likely that the government will back casinos in large scale resorts in order to boost tourism. While there were a number of reports which argued that President Jair Bolsonaro may well have allowed for pro gaming laws Bolsonaro remained largely silent on the issue in the lead up to his election victory.

However, in August Bolsonaro said he was in favour of legalising gambling in casinos during a meeting with Deputy Newton Cardoso Jr, president of the Tourism Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. The deputy is working to push for bills that he believes will boost the growth of the tourism sector and would allow for an expansion of gambling.

Pro gambling lawmakers are divided on the future of the industry. Earlier this month the coordinator of the Mixed Parliamentary Front for the approval of the regulatory framework for games in Brazil, Deputy Bacelar defended the approval of legislation that would legalise all types of gambling. In a seminar, Bacelar explained that the approval of only a small number of games would divide the market and leave games without government approval in a legislative limbo while they remained illegal.

However Herculano Passos President of the Parliamentary Front in Defence of Tourism said that games could be gradually approved over time. He also defended the legalisation of casinos in resorts as a means to create about 500,000 new jobs.

Image by Marcos Corrêa/PR – Flickr do Palácio do Planalto, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77579611