Nicolás Maduro revives casinos in search of oxygen for the Venezuelan economy

It is another sign of the liberal turn that the Government has been taking, cornered by the most serious economic crisis in the recent history of the country, after the fall in oil revenues due to the collapse of production and international connections that have complicated financing to Nicolás Maduro.

The announcement has not been formally made, but several businesses in hotels and clubs in the country have authorized authorization to operate, according to local media. At least 10 of them are located in Caracas. In 2020, this return of the casinos had a prelude with the inauguration of a gaming room in the exclusive Hotel Humboldt, a complex built in the 1950s, during the military dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

The Hotel Humboldt is at the top of Ávila, the tutelary mountain of Caracas, more than 2,000 meters high. The building, which is an architectural challenge, spent decades in neglect until Chavismo undertook a long remodeling that, due to several setbacks, lasted almost a decade. The operation of the hotel and its services were to be handed over to the Marriot chain, but finally the administration was left in the hands of the Government and close businessmen. His casino would then be a state casino, which last year, in full quarantine due to covid-19, held the first poker tournament in the city.

The commander of the Bolivarian revolution called these places "dens of perdition for the bourgeoisie." Maduro has pragmatically resolved with the inauguration of the Humboldt casino to invite people to bet in petros, the cryptocurrency created by the Government to face the devaluation of the bolivar. "At the Humboldt Hotel, an international casino will be opened there and everyone who wants to gamble will bet on petro and all those resources will enter the State for health, education," Maduro said on television in January 2020.

The reversal of Chávez's measure, however, conflicts with the current legislation on the matter, sanctioned before Chavismo. According to the norm that regulates bingo halls, in places where slot machines and casinos operate, a consultative referendum is required to install them. These must be located in declared tourist areas and suitable for their operation. The measures taken in recent years by the Government have bordered on legality, so this would not be a brake.