International Journal on Criminology Volume 6, Number 1, Spring 2018 | Page 14

Territorial and Corrosive: The “jogo do bicho” (Animal Game) and Organized Crime in Brazil
authorities’ control. It reached the point when there were bookmakers taking bets
in the shops and at every Rio crossroads. To prevent Rio from turning into one
large casino, the politicians authorized some activities (horse racing, bowling, billiards)
but not others, including the animal game.
The beginning of the 1900s saw the final rupture between the animal game
and the state. According to Magalhães, 15 the government’s attempt to regulate entertainments
and games of chance was a reflection of Protestant influence in Rio,
stemming from the strengthening of relations between Brazil and the United States
and their foreign policy as expressed in the corollary to the Monroe doctrine. 16
Even though the bicho 17 was illegal, its staying power lay in its popularity
and its presence in the local press, which published the results. Nevertheless, the
daily O Bichinho reported suspicions of rigged draws and the existence of a syndicate
controlling the game and plunging Rio into vice. The paper organized a
mechanism for informing on the Bicheiros, with one of its employees stationed
every day in the Café de Paris in the Largo da Carioca, to glean information that
could lead to the group’s prosecution. 18
It should be acknowledged that recourse to lotteries in order to finance state
activities (especially public works) was not something new: in those days it was
common practice in Europe. However, in Europe a criminal class did not develop
on the back of the lotteries, since in the old continent it was the government that
managed these games, which were aimed at the leisured classes. In Brazil, on the
other hand, the government had ceded the management of the lotteries to the
private market, which mostly targeted the poorer classes, for whom the lottery
offered the only chance of escape from poverty.
The laxity of the Brazilian government gave shopkeepers and bookmakers a
free rein to run these illegal lotteries, despite laws that had forbidden certain types
of games since the 1840s. The situation therefore continued to deteriorate until
1873, when decree 5.207 was promulgated, forbidding the sale of lottery tickets in
Rio’s streets: from that moment on, tickets could only be sold in offices and shops
designated by the mayor’s office. 19 However, street vendors carried on, forcing the
enactment of a stricter law: decree no. 372 of January 9, 1903. As soon as it was
adopted, the mayor’s office mounted operations to seize the tickets, and for a time
these had a positive effect.
It is clear that the sale of tickets for the animal game was poorly controlled,
whether by the authorities or by the private market, because anyone who wanted
15 Magalhães, “Ganhou Leva...”
16 In his corollary, president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) announced a
US expansionist policy towards Latin America, replacing a policy of neutrality with a stance
that would tolerate no threat to the United States’ fundamental interests.
17 Bicho, a shortening of jogo do bicho, is commonly used by Brazilians to refer to the animal
game.
18 The Largo da Carioca is a very busy public square and crossing point in the city center.
19 Magalhães, “Ganhou Leva...,” 79.
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