Legislation
Ecuador – Ecuador lawmaker wants referendum on casinos
By Phil - 7 February 2020
Lawmakers continue to challenge Ecuador’s gambling ban with a new initiative now on the table. Lawmaker Marco Vinicio Harb has proposed that the public be consulted if article 236 of Ecuador’s Criminal Code should ‘be eliminated so that the operation of casinos, gambling halls and betting houses is decriminalised.’
Stiff legal penalties are currently in place when it comes to gambling. Article 236 of current rules establish that ‘the person who administers, puts into operation or establishes casinos, gambling halls, gambling houses or businesses dedicated to the carrying out of games of chance, will be sanctioned with a prison sentence of up to three years.’
In September 2010 then President of Ecuador Rafael Correa announced that his government was seeking to ban casinos as part of a referendum. Almost four million Ecuadorians (47.7 per cent of the voters) voted that that they were in favour of the ban practically ending the industry overnight.
The new public consultation would ensure that gambling establishments would be ‘properly regulated by the Ecuadorian state and relevant laws.’
However attempts to relaunch the industry via a referendum have already failed. In October The Constitutional Court of Ecuador (CC) announced that two local consultation initiatives on the return of casinos was unconstitutional and argued that even if they did get the necessary votes they would be unenforceable as national laws would have to be changed. This was after the national Electoral Council of Ecuador (CNE) decided to approve the creation of a popular consultation on gaming in both the cities of Salinas, in the province of Santa Elena, and in Bahía de Caraquez, in the province of Manabí in 2018. Gaming would have been used as a way to generate much needed revenue after Bahía de Caraquez was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2016. The other was put forward by the mayor of Salinas, Daniel Cisneros. The CC decided to unify both referendum requests for consideration.
Despite these setbacks momentum has been growing to allow for the return of casinos. In May a new project put forward by Mauricio Villacís, President of the Association of Ex-Workers for the casino sector would allow for the reopening of all the casinos in Ecuador. According to Villacís the country is losing out on millions in tax revenue and “more than 20,000 jobs directly and indirectly linked to this activity, with an approximate investment of about US$400m.”
