🌴 Guatemala🇬🇹: bill “Initiative 6645” proposes restricting gambling through the Criminal Code

🌴 Guatemala🇬🇹: bill “Initiative 6645” proposes restricting gambling through the Criminal Code

The legal framework for gambling is significantly outdated: the current legislation was developed in 1880 and does not cover casinos in their current form, let alone online gambling. This legal gap allows operators to offer their services in Guatemala without a specific licensing framework. Regulation of the sector remains pending in Congress.

💠 Unlike most other Latin American markets, Guatemala still does not have its own authority responsible for regulating gambling.

💠 Consequently, there are no specific player protection rules or technical oversight measures applicable to digital operators.

💠 However, the Criminal Code remains in force and is actively enforced. Within this framework, “Initiative 6645” seeks to amend the Code to sanction, primarily, the use of illegal gaming machines and other forms of unauthorized gambling.

💠 However, it remains unclear whether lawmakers will prioritize this issue. There is already a precedent: “Initiative 4294”, which sought to regulate betting, casinos, and video lotteries, but the bill was never approved.

💠 Context: Guatemala has a population of 18,697,234, a GDP per capita of USD 4,354, and Spanish as its official language. By the end of 2025, 62% of the country’s population had access to the internet. A similar proportion used social media, mainly YouTube and Facebook.

#news #Guatemala #gambling

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