In the 1930s in Rio de Janeiro, casinos were the fortune and misfortune of the Brazilian social elite. The “Cassino de Copacabana” and the Casino Atlántico de Copacabana (both on Avenida Atlántica, with baccarat, craps, roulette and blackjack games) attracted the sophisticated society of the time, toasting it, even with the presentations of famous artists National and international. international musicians.

That glamorous atmosphere collapsed on April 30, 1946, when the then president, Eurico Gaspar Dutra, complied with the supposed request of his wife, Dona Santinha, to ban gambling throughout the country. The buildings where the casinos operated were adapted for other activities and thus ended the era of the great musical shows and games that took place in their facilities.

The president, using the powers granted to him by article 180 of the Constitution and given that the repression of gambling was described as ‘imperative of universal conscience’, while the criminal law of all cults contains provisions aimed at this end , considering that ‘the traditional, legal and religious morality of the Brazilian people is contrary to the practice and functioning of games of chance’. The open exceptions to the general law approved protections for these casinos that were branded as ‘harmful to morality and good customs’, and the licenses and concessions for the practice of games of chance in the city of Rio de Janeiro and the hotels, They were granted temporarily. and could be revoked at any time if they don’t close on their own.

The President of the Republic, Dutra, met with the Ministry and issued the decree that extinguished the game throughout the country. The impact of this government measure in the capital was already amazing and impressive. Editions of the evening papers quickly sold out, to the popular enthusiasm of the commentaries. Firm decision of the highest authorities of the Republic, as drafted by decree, so that the application of its effects would not be given by any administration. The law entered into force on the same day, as soon as it was published in the government’s “Official Gazette” – all this shows that the head of government was attentive to ‘defending the highest national interests’.

The Brazilian people warmly welcomed President Dutra’s law that had just been promulgated. El Radical was the only newspaper for a long period of Brazilian public life, and it never stopped fighting gambling, seeing it as a terrible social evil.

The wave of bets, the beginning of the spas and the trips to the coastal towns conquered the interest of the entire population, at least of the inhabitants of the interior of the country. There were men in the government who suffered a tremendous social fall from the bonuses for gambling expenses that the administration made.