Political attacks focusing on the relationship between local gambling interests and Argentina’s former president Nestor Kirchner have caused two major expanded gambling initiatives in the greater Buenos Aires area to be shelved as lawmakers instead approve new taxes on gambling revenues in the Argentine capital.

Last minute changes to a major fiscal reform package approved in Buenos Aires last week saw a 70 percent rise in taxes applied to gross receipts for bingo and slot machine games. The hike is likely to hit the province’s largest bingo operator Codere, while rivals in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires will remain unaffected.

Boasting the third largest Spanish-speaking gaming market in the world, Argentina is regarded as a key market for international gambling operators seeking to break into South America.

The leading Buenos Aires daily, La Nación, has reported that the municipal government of Mauricio Macri is studying the possibility of legalizing online gambling in the city, with Greek gaming giant Intralot and local gambling impresario Cristobal López said to be first in line to obtain a local licence.

Politicians in Buenos Aires are set to vote this week on two separate measures that are set to dramatically expand gambling in Argentina’s capital city and in the wider provincial area. If passed, observers believe significant new opportunities should emerge for online gaming operators, with new slot machines also set to be approved as local governments look to plug gaping budget shortfalls.

A Federal judge in Argentina has ordered the closure of the Buenos Aires floating casinos, operated jointly by Spanish company Cirsa and Argentine Casino Club, after Government intervention in a dispute involving rival labour unions failed to end a conflict.

A new chapter in Argentina’s political history was opened yesterday when the country’s first elected female leader, Cristina Kirchner, was sworn in as president. However, Government intervention in violent clashes with workers at the two floating casinos in Buenos Aires is keeping the highly politicised issue of gambling high on the agendas of both Kirchner and new Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri as they manoeuvre for power.

Legal papers filed in Buenos Aires have called for a formal investigation into the appointment of the province’s main gaming regulator after records showed both he and his wife had been registered in Nevada to act as Argentine junket operators for the Las Vegas-based casino giant MGM Mirage.

Last week, Mario Das Neves, Governor of the Argentine Province of Chubut, announced a 120 percent increase on fees levied over gaming businesses operating within Chubut. The Governor’s announcement has led several political leaders in Argentina to request a general tax hike for the gaming industry across the country – sparking concern amongst operators in Argentina’s booming gambling market.

The president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has called on the authorities to modernise the country’s football betting market in order to protect the domestic game from fiscal concerns that had threatened to delay the start of the new season.