President Claudia Sheinbaum dismisses creation of new casino law

In spite of the statements made by Deputy Ricardo Monreal, President of the Political Coordination Board of the Chamber of Deputies, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum denied that she is planning to send to Congress a new Gaming and Sweepstakes Law.

As reported by Yogonet, last week deputies of the Political Coordination Board (Jucopo) met with the Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, who informed them that the office of the Presidency is preparing a new reform of the current legislation that seeks to eradicate corruption in Mexico's casinos and to stop extortion.

Rosa Icela Rodríguez and Ricardo Monreal

"She stated that, in the next days or weeks, the Executive Power would be sending an initiative for a new gaming and sweepstakes law, since it has not been modified since 1946," Monreal commented to media after the meeting.

However, during her morning conference, the President detailed that the intention of her administration, through the Ministry of the Interior, in charge of Rosa Icela Rodríguez, will only be to communicate with the owners of the establishments. The purpose of these conversations would be to discuss the regulations but under no circumstances to establish new legislation on the matter.

Specifically, Sheinbaum was asked about the fate of the Hipódromo de las Américas and the possibility of it becoming operated by the Mexican Army. "It is a concession. And no, at this moment there is no new law. Rosa Icela, who is a very honest woman, an extraordinary public worker, one of the best our country has, is talking to those who own the casinos," she responded.

She went on to detail that Icela's task will be to be aware of “whether there is any corruption, that it be reported immediately so that these schemes that could still exist in some public servers that remained from the past, before the arrival of President (Andrés Manuel) López Obrador, can be avoided."

Sheinbaum acknowledged that the regulation that currently governs casinos is outdated and not in keeping with the current times, but that anyway, the government has no plans to renew or modify it. The Federal Gaming and Sweepstakes Law was enacted on December 31, 1947, by then President Miguel Alemán Valdés (1946-1952).