For many Latin Americans there is nothing like a good soap opera and if it is played out in the real world rather than on a television screen, so much the better. Over the last weeks there has been murder and mayhem at gaming venues in Mexico, the arraignment of top officials in Uruguay over slot machine purchases and massive financial losses, and in Brazil there is a long running saga of corruption and dirty deeds that include the gaming industry.

President Lula of Brazil is still a popular president despite constant scandals erupting in and around his administration. Low inflation and social programmes have so far cushioned his presidency from too much fall-out, but several high-ranking politicians have resigned following exposure by the media of various nefarious dealings. The president’s own brother is accused of receiving bribes from a gaming industry entrepreneur.

In May this year there was a demonstration against the loss of around 120,000 jobs in the Brazilian bingo industry, with an additional 300,000 indirectly affected, following Lula’s decision to close bingo venues. The action taken by Lula seems all the more unreasonable as he was previously a union boss fighting for the workers. So far no scandal has arisen that touches the President personally but Brazilian politicians are still the subject of many a media frenzy and subsequent removal from office.

In 1946 the then President Dutra banned casino gambling in Brazil but lotteries and horseracing were exempt. During the 1990s gaming machines found their way into bingo venues that had circumnavigated a new law that allowed bingos to sponsor amateur sports. Undeclared funds for political campaigns in 2004 caused the closure of bingo venues just as Lula announced his government’s intention to regulate the bingo industry, which then had around 1100 operations and more than 100,000 video gambling machines. In a swift reversal Lula passed Provisional Measure 168 in February 2004, prohibiting all commercial bingo and electronic games.

Despite the law some bingo venues remain precariously in operation and attempts to legislate and regulate the industry continue sporadically. Those who were employed in Brazilian bingos continue to press for the industry to be properly regulated and allowed to function once more. Political scandals should not cause the loss of employment of those not involved, however excellent a source of media copy, and Lula should once again don his union hat for bingo workers and their families. (E-06.20.07)

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