The National Federation of Gaming Workers (Fenaju) raised its distributions before Parliament on the bill that seeks to enable theOnline licenses for casino gambling in Uruguay. The delegation of this union appeared last Thursday before the Treasury Commission of Deputies and was critical of the initiative that was already approved by the Senate.
Fenaju brings together some 3,500 Lotteries and Quinielas workers, officials from private and mixed casinos, from Hípica Rioplatense Uruguay, a part of the municipal ones from Montevideo, and workers from the Carrasco and Enjoy casinos.
“What economic activity in the world is more friendly to money laundering than online gambling? There is none. Today, with everything that happens in the region, in the world, in the country, with laundering, we must put emphasis there strongly, because we can have problems with the OECD, even, to comply with these things. We understand that the prohibition of generating competition by giving bonuses, giving free money to users, giving free bonuses to gamblers must appear in the express text, “he said the leader of the Fenjau, Leonel Revelese.
On the other hand, the union leader pointed out that it is essential to know the world experiences before advancing with that norm. “Know what happened in Spain, in England: to piacere patents, to piacere publicity, to piacere, let it go, bonds. This was a social disaster and had an enormous cost in health!” He warned.
“We believe that, for now, this Parliament is treating this issue with a certain lightness; it is not possible to regulate this issue in a hurry (…) So, it seems to us that many things should be changed in this project. We are not against online gaming; it would be an intellectual stupidity to be against it when humanity and science advance in technological processes in certain areas, but it must be done the Uruguayan way, creating better conditions for society,” Revelese considered.
On the other hand, the leader of the Enoy union, Juan Arteaga, recalled that Spain “gambling increased tenfold thanks to online gaming. These data are available anywhere and the specialists who have come have transferred it. Gambling was generated to level of adolescents between 14 and 18 years old. That must also be taken into account”.
“In the casino where I work (Enjoyu) and represent my colleagues, there is a bank, there is an exchange house, all from the same company. When money comes, the normal thing for VIP players in that place, which is US$ 1 million, US$ 2 million, is transferred to the Enjoy accounts and Enjoy gives them the equivalent chips on the table. When the player leaves – win, lose or whatever – the rest is transferred to the same account , that is, there is no triangulation of accounts. That is something positive for money laundering. How is money laundering going to be regulated in online gambling? Where is the player’s money going to be? In a wallet? electronically? In an account in another country?” Arteaga questioned.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance had previously defended in Parliament its bill to legalize online casinos and relativized the impact that this new modality may have on the compulsive problems that certain people have when it comes to gambling. Also that this problem cannot be an obstacle to the central objective of this initiative: the development of regulated betting premises.
“Gaming is a disease and must be treated by public health, and it is treated precisely there,” The general director of Casinos, Gustavo Anselmi, remarked before the legislators, citing the latest official figures available on this disease. The latest report from the Hospital de Clínicas that the General Directorate of Casinos has indicates that in 2021 some 100 people were treated for gambling problems at the Hospital de Clínicas. In 2020 there had been 78 cases.
