It was December, the capital of Buenos Aires, Argentina -Buenos Aires, and the temperature in summer rose to 35 degrees (Hana 95).
The sun is relentlessly beating on the Villa Fiorit’s metal roof, a neighborhood of the worker class, south of the capital of Argentina.
The flip flop teenager is on a motorcycle passing through the dirt streets. Other children look for shade spots for resting in the garden hose and rinsing their feet.
Carla G, who demanded anonymous, is one of the nearby teenagers. At the age of 18, she is approaching the end of high school. One of her favorite entertainment was playing soccer with her friend at a nearby sports club, not far from the place where the legendary player, Diego Maladona, grew up.
However, her hobby took the back seat when I started online gambling last June.
“Most of the school friends are involved in online gambling,” said Carla. “They admit it is a problem.”
Carla is part of the growth trend of Argentina’s society. Teenager and young adults are betting online.
In October last year, Ombudsman in Buenos Azazes has announced a report that almost one -quarter of a 12 -year -old local student is gambling online.
The majority of 67 % quoted the need for fast cash as their motives. As poverty rises in Argentina, experts fear that online betting becomes even more attractive, and not only legally platforms, but also legal platforms.
However, the problem of regulating online gambling has been controversial, especially under the stubborn free market President of Javier Myli.
The story of Carla
For Carla, she turned her to the Internet gambling a rush of adrenaline she felt, helping her family escape from poverty.
He is 18 years old and lives with 26 -year -old sister Meira and 6 -year -old NE. The family depends on Mailla’s income.
However, in April, Meira lost a gig at a used furniture store. To generate income, Maira moved to wash his neighbor linen with cash.
However, the family is struggling to cover the bill. Meira said she sometimes sleeps without dinner because she lacks money.
So Carla decided to incorporate a problem in his hands. She said that she spent her regular soccer practice in her room alone, working as a cash register at a virtual casino.
My best friend suggested her work to her. “Virtual Bingo is very popular in the neighborhood, so most of the families are participating, so I feel normal,” Carla said.
However, she claims that her work has sucked her into an online Pongechim.
“The cashier will collect money from Better and get commissions for each new player to be hired,” said Carla.
“But there is a catch. The cashier gathers $ 100, and Better gets $ 150. The Bingo administrator distributes $ 50 to the casha, but she still costs $ 50. The cashier must cover her debt to avoid paying from her pocket. “
Carla remembers the pressure of attracting new gamblers in social media, sharing links and promotions to advertise bingo ring.
“Finding participants is becoming more and more difficult,” she said. She finally quit his job in November and came to the point where she could no longer get a committee by attracting a new gambler.
However, her sister, Meira, also became a cashier, and she continues to work on an illegal gambling platform.
She explained that she spends 5 hours a day on her gambling apps, otherwise she has lost money on food.
As she spoke, her phone was constantly worried about the message from Casino Opelator, and was full of persistent mosquitoes. She had $ 18 for them.
“If I could get the time back, I wouldn’t have been involved in this. It’s like a drug trading, and even if you know it is dangerous, you I will forcibly bring friends and family to this system, “Mailla said.
Another substitute for poverty
In Tandil, a small agricultural town in Buenos Aires, historical teachers, Euglinia Erleegerena, saw that gambling began to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She was forced to isolated to stop the diffusion of the virus, and her students looked more and more digital for social relationships.
“For children, there is not much difference between playing video games and entering a betting platform,” Erreguerena says. “Both activities are part of the same infinite scrolling experience.”
She observed that the boy in the classroom was likely to gamble. Ombudsman’s survey found that 34 % of teenies were betting online compared to 13 % of girls.
“Online casinos function as a non -point where boys can embody an ambitious alter ego,” said Elgelena. Some of her students told her that she lost more than $ 500 in one bet, but she sometimes came to her and seek money.
Experts and critics believe in some of the growth of online bets on the growth of Argentina’s economic instability.
In December 2023, President Myli became appointed to reduce inflation and promise dramatic measures to separate the country from the recession.
As a self -proclaimed “analco -funded”, he brought a “chainsaw” approach to bureaucracy, regulations, and public expenditures, reducing all three and freezing all three.
The result is mixed. The monthly inflation has decreased, and Argentina pesos have become stronger. Even gross domestic production (GDP) shows promising signs.
However, poverty under the administration of Milay is increasing. The number of Argentine under the poverty line has reached more than 50 % in the past year, and unemployment has continued to increase.
Ergelena explained that her students consider online gambling as an alternative. This is a way to be released from the cycle of poverty. After all, they face limited opportunities in rural areas like Tandil.
“The job they can aim for, just like working in rural workers and villages, feels like forced labor for extreme wages,” said Elegelena.
“And the kids need money like everyone else. It costs $ 40 to go out at night and cannot collect vegetable wooden boxes.”
Improvement of visibility
However, the burden of debt caused by gambling can follow the teenager in the adult period.
In 2024 surveys on the 9,000 young Argentine, 15 to 29 years old, a recent 40 % of gambling is recognized.
The most active age group was 25-29 among those who said they were gambling at the time of the survey. Currently, more than 26 % are gambling.
Martin Romero, a professor at Buenos Aires University, has led his research. He praised the growth of online bets, partially improving the visibility of the platform.
This month, the website’s sports bed became the main sponsor of the popular Argentina football team club Atletic Coin Deep Deute.
The largest two football clubs in Japan have already counted gambling platforms among sponsors. Team River plates are associated with cordle on the bet, but Bochajunia receives sponsorship from Betsson.
“In recent years, the active advertisement of betting platforms has been dramatically increasing,” Romero said.
“This rapid increase is supported by the main soccer teams, tournaments, players, influencers, and streakers in Argentina.
He also pointed out that Argentina has no gambling age restrictions and is an attractive destination for companies trying to expand the market.
“Casino, which relocates from Europe for more severe regulations, can easily establish himself here,” he said.
Change of legislation
Romero wants to change it. He was one of the experts who supported a bill that requires a gambling platform to adopt a biometric screening tool to prevent children and youth from accessing them.
The bill also called for gambling sites advertising, improving transparency in the operation of platforms, and restrictions on penalties for unauthorized sites targeting minors.
However, the version of the bill passed the Argentine agency in November, but with 54 % of voting, legislation faced a difficult battle in the Senate.
The Argentine lottery, casino and Kiniela associations (ALEA) opposed the bill, and Milei promised to refuse if it passed as part of the promotion of deregulation.
Under his administration, Argentina legally made a 13 -year -old teenager investing in the stock market.
Similarly, the members of the party argue that regulating online gambling will provide unnecessary restrictions on each individual.
“This is not a state, but a family,” Lilia Lemoine, a former Milei and member of the Diet, said in the November discussion.
“Once again, the nation has crossed the boundaries on individual decisions, and our government opposes it.”
However, Romero said that the policy would help parents give the impression that “the teenager bets, the first step as a financial investor.”
He also pointed out in November that Milei has appointed Juan Baotista Audness as a child, youth, and a family secretary of the family. Ordonez boasts a gambling background. He used to be the CEO of CODERE, an online betting site.
“I’m not surprised that Milay wants to refuse the law,” Romero said.
But he added that the need for regulation is imminent. Based on his statistics, two out of Argentina Pesos, which are received from their parents for daily expenses, are simply gambling.