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April 22nd, 2016 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : Two bombs exploded almost simultaneously near offices of the Colombian health intermediary EPS Cafesalud in the capital Bogota. The bombs exploded Wednesday night and caused no injuries but material damage and speculations. Police in Bogota has been put on red alert. Colombia’s healthcare system and private intermediaries have been the source of much controversy, corruption, mismanagement and mass protests.
The first of the two bombs exploded, according to police reports, at 9:00 p.m. local time. The other bomb went off shortly after. Hoover Pernilla, the Commandant of the Metropolitan Police of Bogota told the press that the two bombs appeared to have been crude, home-made devices with low-explosives. The identity of the perpetrators is currently unknown.
There have been unsubstantiated, speculative reports about the possible involvement of “the guerrilla” (implying involvement of the ELN or the FARC-EP), and that the bombings “could have been” a response to “unsuccessful extortion attempts”.
It is, however, unlikely that the FARC-EP or the ELN would have to risk to manufacture low-explosives while both have stockpiles of military grade explosives at hand. Moreover, both the FARC-EP and the ELN are conducting peace talks with the government.
The two bombs went off near the healthcare company EPS Cafesalud. That is, the first went off directly outside the main administrative office while the second bomb went off near a second branch of the company. EPS Cafesalud has also been targeted with a bomb attack in December 2015. While attempted “extortion” would not be unusual in Bogota, the motive for the bombings may as well be dissatisfaction with and protest against Colombia’s extremely unpopular health insurance scheme in general and EPS Cafesalud in particular or as a “target of opportunity”.
In 2013 tens of thousands of protesters from all walks of life took to the streets to protest the adoption of a new health care bill that reformed the ten-year-old heal care law 100. The bill transferred substantial power over Colombia’s health care system to private corporations and non-clinical institutions. There non-clinical entities, known as EPSs have been plagued by mismanagement and corruption. They are the dominant power with regard to Colombians’ access to health care.
Colombians can choose which EPS they wish to represent them. The EPS then allocates resources for treatment and selects services on behalf of the patient. The choice which treatment any given patient is being afforded is thus not dependent on the evaluation by the medical practitioner who has direct contact with the patient, but by clerks, who even if they should have a medical background, are far removed from the clinical processes, and who have to make decisions based on “insurance policy guidelines” rather than based on best medical practice.
Making matters worth for Colombians is, that the private-owned and managed EPS are notoriously known for being plagued by corruption and unscrupulous practices, such as creating bureaucratic barriers for necessary and recommended treatments, for withholding payments, and for investing their funds in non-healthcare related areas. The mere fact that these private entities “speculate” with the users money prompts many Colombians to question whether it is sound to have professional stock-market gamblers manage public health.
CH/L – nsnbc 21.04.2016
Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/04/21/hated-colombian-healthcare-corporation-in-bogota-bombed/
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