A new block of senators was created to try to stop the approval of the bill that legalizes casinos in Brazil in the House. The text was already approved in the House, at the beginning of last year, by 246 favorable votes.
If approved by the Senate, the casinos could be installed in resorts as part of a leisure complex, a structure that would still have to have at least 100 high-end rooms, in addition to places for events, meetings, restaurants, bars and shopping centers.
The debate is old. Since 1946, this nation has lost trillions of dollars in jobs and taxes when Marshal Dutra decided to ban casinos. And, just look at the reason, to please his wife, the conservative Dona Santinha. From then on, we all know the story: the casino was banned in Brazil, in the name of God.
We lost much more than entertainment: we lost taxes, income generation and, above all, jobs. And, of course, we stopped attracting tourists – the vector of this clean economy called traveling.
According to a survey carried out by Legal Gaming Institute (IJL), Brazil holds the status of the main "exporter" of casino players on the planet.
Around 200,000 Brazilians travel abroad every year to enjoy this type of entertainment. While they could be traveling to Foz do Iguaçu, Gramado, Angra dos Reis, Pedra Azul – and a multitude of great Brazilian destinations that could be home to legalized casinos, inspected by the Federal Revenue, tax payers and generators of signed workbook generators.
A forecast for Espírito Santo, with the approval of the Legal Framework for Gaming, would result in a great revolution for tourist services, as well as the installation of a casino could generate around 1500 new direct jobs and 4 thousand indirect ones.
Ask an unemployed person if the news is not good. Other players close to the discussion at the Brazilian level bring even more robust numbers: 650,000 new jobs and R$ 20 billion (US$ 3.95b) in annual revenue.
There is a lot of talk about diseases related to addiction and compulsion to gambling, a disease of the century due to the absence of the State, which must be treated seriously, a case of public health, and logically a subject to be placed on the agenda in this discussion.
In Las Vegas, which today is the biggest destination when it comes to casinos, there is a concern to offer leisure, shows and shows – that is: not only gaming, but culture and entertainment. Over there, the houses even offer psychological assistance, precisely because there is a concern with well-being and fun.
Organized civil society also needs to find ways to deal with this problem, that already affects the country regardless of Marshal Dutra's pen.
Brazil, which loves to see the Old Continent through a convex mirror, could look at Portugal, Italy and France, where many casinos are even state-owned and supervision which, pardon the pun, it's not bad luck.
Nerleo Caus
President of the Brazilian Association of the Espírito Santo Hotel Industry (ABIH-ES). He was once the state secretary of Tourism.
