The regulation of the gambling market in Brazil continues as the theme of the series of special reports produced by journalist Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho for the Tribuna da Imprensa Livre website. This time, the interviewee was lawyer Trajano Ribeiro, former president of the Municipal Tourism Company of Rio de Janeiro (RioTur).
According to the lawyer, the return of casinos in various places in the country and, especially, in Rio de Janeiro, would be essential to stimulate the arrival of tourists who consider gambling as a determining factor for the visit.
“I believe that tourism companies from all over Brazil, with the support of their respective mayors, really should promote a big congress to debate the issue, calling on economists, ministers from the impacted sectors, parliamentarians, aiming to accelerate the process in Congress, as soon as possible games regulation projects ”, he declared.
Check out the interview with Trajano Ribeiro
Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho: In your opinion, what is the view that public companies should have of games of chance?
Trajano Ribeiro: Casinos are an important tourist attraction, with the ability to arouse interest in places and regions that are absolutely uninteresting from the tourist point of view. Brazil as a whole and the city of Rio de Janeiro in particular, are, due to their natural beauty, climate and the hospitality of their people, an extraordinary potential for tourism. The implantation of casinos in the different regions of Brazil and in Rio de Janeiro, would be an important stimulus factor for large contingents of tourists who consider gambling as an important stimulus for the visit.
At the moment, the official tourism companies are responsible for stimulating and acting politically with the governments they represent so that the countless authorization projects for the implantation of casinos in Brazil become a reality. Casinos in Brazil were closed, to allow the development in the United States of a huge gambling center in the middle of the desert, since with what they considered a tropical paradise, in this case Rio de Janeiro, it was not possible to compete.
Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho: At the time of the crisis, created by the Covid 19 pandemic, would regulation open up new opportunities?
Trajano Ribeiro: The pandemic devastated the economy of many countries, including ours, the rest of the most vulnerable. The exit from the crisis will be slow and will require a lot of creativity and innovation. I do not believe it is possible to recover 14,000,000 jobs without a strong reactivation of the service sector, the largest employer of labor. In this sector, tourism stands out as one of the most employed.
It should be added that the tourist activity triggers a gigantic productive chain, involving transport, textile industry, automotive oil and gas, electric energy, civil construction, arts in general, music, show, generating millions of indirect jobs. Perhaps no other sector of the economy has such an impact on the economy as a whole. Tourism is among the main engines of the economy of the ten most developed countries.
Therefore, in view of the need for a quick recovery of jobs, the immediate regulation of casinos would bring great stimulus, both for direct and vacant generation and for indirect generation, with effect in the short and medium term, boosting tourism and developing a great entertainment pole, this time, in tropical paradise.
Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho: Should we debate the regulation widely?
Trajano Ribeiro: I believe that tourism companies from all over Brazil, with the support of their respective mayors, really should promote a large congress to debate the issue, calling on economists, ministers from the impacted sectors, parliamentarians, aiming to speed up the process in Congress, as soon as possible. as possible of the games regulation projects. There is no reason why games should not be regulated.
The Brazilian State promotes several games of chance through Caixa Econômica Federal and the federal states. In addition, it is known that the animal game has been operating for a century in the country, classified as a misdemeanor, is appreciated by the people who always make their own meal and who resist decades of repression, the result of which is only to generate the emergence of groups that act on the margins. of the law, often competing violently in market spaces. This could be avoided with the legalization of the activity, legality bringing to perhaps thousands of Brazilians who work in the sector and who live outside the law.
Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho: Did the closing of casinos in Brazil in 1946 favor the gaming industry in other countries?
Trajano Ribeiro: It was exactly the Casino da Urca that aroused the envy of the people of Las Vegas. It was not only Brazilian artists who animated the nights of that house. The actors from Holywood were frequenting the Urca casino and returned home extolling the tropical paradise. It is in our hands to rescue this glorious past of the night in Rio. In fact, the formats “Cassino & Entretenimento”, Cassino & Música ”and Cassino & Espetáculo” are Brazilian creations.
Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho: Does the stability of the democratic regime of law favor regulation?
Trajano Ribeiro: Regarding the business exploitation of casinos, in particular, I believe that it is natural, due to the nature of the activity, although the Uruguayan experience should be better studied. However, I believe that concessions to the private sector should be strictly supervised, in order to avoid fraud, evasion, money laundering and other crimes. It would be advisable to create a council in the Ministry of Economy, formed by representatives of the Public Ministry, Tax Audit, Ministry of Tourism, and Caixa Econômica (CEF).
Another important issue is to avoid cartelization, monopolies, oligopolies, etc., establishing that no company can have more than two casinos, and the participation of a partner in two companies is prohibited in the corporate composition, and the participation of relatives of any degree is also prohibited.
