Guatemala’s penal code of 1880 prohibits all gambling. One exemption to the law is given to the National Lottery organization that conducts a monthly game that benefits poor persons (both as employees of the lottery and as beneficiaries of programs supported by the lottery).
The penal code has also been totally ignored by others running gambling operations. In 1979 the brutal and corrupt regime of General Lucas Garcia authorized the opening of Club Monja Blanca in the penthouse of the Hotel Guatemala Fiesta in Guatemala City. A private group of operators consisted of expatriates from Cuba and Costa Rica. General Garcia’s military “henchmen” were quite interested in the daily revenues of the casino, as they took their “share” along with the government’s tax share. Very little of the take filtered down to the poverty programs that the casino was ostensibly supporting. The casino remained opened for three years. In 1982 General Rios Montt overthrew the Garcia government. Montt was a Fundamentalist Christian and was morally opposed to casino gambling. Even when he was overthrown by Mejia Victores in 1983, the casino remained closed. There is no casino gaming today, although certain business interests seek to keep the issue alive with the current civilian government.
Although casinos are closed, there is other authorized gambling that seems to violate the letter of the penal code. Private charities are permitted to run raffles and lottery games that include weekly drawings and instant tickets. Also, there is a large private bingo hall on the Avenida Reforma just one block from the Hotel Guatemala Fiesta.
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