Mexico President Opens Review into Casino Licensing Process
Casinos in Mexico will not be allowed to work lawfully with Manuel López Obrador, the country's President, issuing an order to allow a study of how licenses have been issued so far.
Mexico's President Postpone Casino License
Mexico's push for legalization has just hit a hurdle with President Manuel López Obrador declaring that he will not accept any new applicants for casino licenses until an investigation into how current licenses have been issued is completed.
Last week, the President signed an order which brought the country's nascent casino industry to a grinding halt. With Mexico planned to kick-start the industry after at least June, this is the latest blow to the controversial problem since new tax laws were passed.
President Obrador raised concern as to how his predecessor, Mexican President Vicente Fox, had handled the licensing process when he was in office between 1 december 2000 and 30 november 2006.
"We want no more casinos to open and no more permits to be granted, that began during Vicente Fox’s administration and was not adequate," he said.
President Obrador alleged insufficient monitoring and regulation made it possible for those bidders to achieve an unfair advantage. He wants Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero to investigate how licenses were issued, and if the requirements set in the initial licensing allocation process were appropriate.
Time to Improve The Government
Addressing the public on his decision, President Obrador said that he would first clean up the government to make sure that all licensing procedures are still "adequate." He explicitly called the licenses given under former President Fox not designed to satisfy business needs and allow those bidders to obtain a lead.
The "clean-up" process has been underway but it has not yet been finished, the President said. President Obrador is known at all layers of government as a hardliner on graft and violence.
He has also purged several key high-ranking government and police officials to try to ensure a more equal environment for everyone. President Obrador is not a casinos mate, either. His dream is to create a world that doesn't have casinos but as a heavy drive from developers persists, this is also debatable.
For the time being, though, President Obrador has put an end to any regulatory initiative, threatening that any efforts by municipal councils to circumnavigate his order will be faced with Supreme Court intervention.
He mentioned Gobierno del Cambio, when the government approved the unlicensed opening of casinos, which ended in brutality, financial crimes and, sadly, delaying the development of legal casino operations in Mexico for years.
