The casinos have been opened because of shady political deals to manipulate Mexican gaming law.

Meanwhile in Congress opposition politicians are pushing for the reactivation of the special commission investigating the legality of seven licences granted by Santiago Creel, ex Secretary of State, for 198 gaming operations. The cross-party opposition to the licences is based on information establishing that Creel acted illogically in authorizing the licences in his last month of holding the position.

An official document describes the arguments put forward by Creel, explaining the issue of the licences was to break the prior monopoly, were not logical. In 27 years only 23 permits had been granted but the 198 gaming licences authorized by Creel included areas where there is a severe problem of organized crime, including Mexico City, Nuevo León, Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Baja California y Michoacán.

The Parliamentarians maintain that the Gaming and Lotteries Law expedited by Creel is unconstitutional in any light, whilst the Supreme Court keeps open the constitutional controversy raised by the Legislature. For the majority of Mexicans, and foreigners, the reactivation of the special commission would seem logical, owing to the inconclusiveness of the initial findings.

In El Torreon they have given up waiting for the Mexican Congress to bring order to the gaming sector. Faced by the administrative limbo in the country, El Torreon’s Municipal Finance Commission is proposing to tax the city’s casinos, which presently are untaxed because there are no defined regulations for the sector. The Coahuila councillor is, in his own way, taking the initiative to bring order to the industry.

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