The thing is that whenever El Comercio sets up on a campaign against something or someone, it is most unlikely that its target can survive the media onslaught.

As soon as the new APRA party administration got into office at the end of July, El Comercio stated its anti casino campaign. Under the mantle of a moralizing worry, the Peruvian daily, which has maintained a brutal anti APRA stance for decades, launches its vitriol against the casino and slots operators for all its worth.

As I arrived in Lima, the first question I asked was: Why has El Comercio waited over 4 years to attack grey legal gaming in Peru? No prizes for guessing the answer. The past administration with the political corruption and sycophancy that was part and parcel of its president had the full blessing of a tendentious daily that now embarks on a hostile attack on Alan Garcia’s administration.

As for the slots machine operations in Peru, the regulators has indicated that there are only 36 licensed operations, adding that 625 operate through Judicial Habeas Corpus resolutions, while some 371 are totally illegal. In all, over 50,000 slots in the country generate some US$ 700,000 daily, with less than 10% contributing to the government tax system. Everyone agrees that it is high time someone did something to put matters right in the local gaming industry, but this is not a prerogative of El Comercio’s uninformed editorials.

The major problem has been the haphazard alterations and additions to the original gaming legislation in Peru, and under the Peruvian Constitution, some law changes were totally anti constitutional, which allowed companies to seek and gain protection from the new laws through the courts. Adding to this, there is Peru’s sport for all seasons that seeks a loophole in the Law as soon as it is passed, and of course, the curse of Third World countries, where business practices entail corruption of legislators and government functionaries.

The answer to the problem is not the facile “close the dens” clarion call of El Comercio, as it starts its weary and damaging opposition to the new administration, but a responsible attitude that brings in all the operators into the fold. Some learned constitutional voices are starting to be heard saying that a return to the 1992 or 1993 gaming legislation would put out of office all Habeas Corpus protection. If this was the case, then it will be just the social security services and the market, which will enable slots operator to continue.

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