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Hospital de Cereté will continue to be intervened by the Superintendency of Health

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The improvements in infrastructure, the recovery of the portfolio and the opening of services are three of the objectives set by the health authorities in front of the Sandiego de Cereté Hospital, which will continue to be operated for another year.

The Health Superintendent, Fabio Aristizábal Ángel stated that “the intervention ordered at the Sandiego de Cereté Hospital was extended for one year in order to continue working to guarantee the quality and timeliness of the provision of health services and continue with the implementation of the necessary measures to solve financial, legal, administrative and welfare difficulties ”.

It was learned that during this extension, the intervening agent Sandra Milena Jaramillo, will have to work on investment projects, adaptation and remodeling of the infrastructure of the hospital pharmacy, the surgical area and the sterilization center.

“Progress will be made in the works of the San Carlos Emergency Medical Care Center and in the neonatal ICU project to be able to care for high-risk maternal mothers. The hospital already has a 24-hour gynecologist, an intermediate ICU and a pediatric service. The accounting purification process will continue and the work on financial consolidation and portfolio recovery actions will continue, ”explained Aristizábal Ángel.

The authorities highlighted that the institution has been strengthened to care for patients infected by COVID-19, and went from not having ICU beds to having 12, plus another two for intermediate care.

The senior official explained that “due to the management of the special intervening agent, the hospital opened a new respiratory emergency area that operates 24 hours a day and has an office, resuscitation room, 5 observation beds and 8 cubicles for defining behavior.” .

According to the report submitted, the hospital keeps the salaries paid to the personnel up to date and the contributions to social security, parafiscals and the payment to contractors have been met.

“Added to the above is the investment of $ 38 million for the provision of respiratory emergencies, the 7.5% increase in billing during the first quarter of 2020, the restoration of 50 hospital beds, the preventive and corrective maintenance of medical equipment and the automation of sterilization ”, specified the Super Salud.

It is also expected that the installation of a tomograph will be carried out and the completion of the infrastructure works in the admission area.

It should be remembered that due to the critical situation of its finances, and the deficiencies in the provision of services to its users, the hospital was intervened on December 20, 2019.

At that time, there were labor debts with plant workers, contractors, job boards and outsourcing for 11,552 million pesos. Regarding the health services, the authorities revealed that the medical equipment was not maintained, some treatments were started late because medicines were lacking, there were supplies with past expiration dates and there was no regular disinfection in the facilities.

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Well-being in body and soul

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According to an investigation by the University of the Basque Country (Spain) on the effects of the pandemic, now there is greater uncertainty and concern about suffering from Covid-19 or losing loved ones; a decrease in confidence and optimism, especially in women and in people in poor employment situations; and an increase in irritability, again with a greater impact on women and the unemployed.

If we do not act now, in concert with research with vaccines and treatments, the post-pandemic outlook will be bleak for the mental health of millions of people.

And taking action, obviously, is not prescribing more antidepressants or anxiolytics, or building more psychiatric hospitals. Both actions are necessary to address some consequences; however, the idea is to be proactive and avoid them.

In response to the feeling of anxiety, according to the consulting firm Llorente y Cuenca (LLYC), there has been a rapid and broad change that goes from the “concept of wellness [bienestar], centered on the individual, al by wellbeing [bienestar integral], a more holistic vision that includes different people and sectors of our societies ”.

What does this mean? A call for the participation of the whole society in the benefits of well-being.

Wellbeing is defined as the state of satisfaction and tranquility that a person presents, thanks to their good physical and mental conditions.

“If societies and companies are unable to focus holistically on people’s well-being (including physical, emotional and spiritual health), it will be almost impossible to create safety nets that allow citizens to return to work and be productive ”, They explain from LLYC.

For this reason, I have always opted for wellness programs in all their aspects: emotional, physical, social and financial. This is what happens every November in the event “In Body and Soul”, which this year will be held in an online version, with more universal access, more experts and with the empowering and transforming energy of always.

To keep your balance in difficult times, “you have to grab the bull by the horns” and get going, as a popular saying reflects.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the pandemic has disrupted or paralyzed mental health services in 93% of countries. And if, as the WHO itself says, mental health is related to the promotion of well-being, the prevention of mental disorders and treatment, then let’s look for our own tools. Healthy living is much more than curing or protecting yourself from disease.

@cala

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For investors: how funds that bet on technology are handled

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For its part, the BlackRock Technology Opportunities Fund is another of the most profitable funds, with an annual return of more than 30%. Although its portfolio is made up of 120 stocks, its biggest bets are: Apple (4.2%), Microsoft (3.5%), Amazon (2.8%), Tencent (2.1%), Alibaba (2 %), Alphabet (1.7%), Paypal (1.7%), Twilio (1.6%), Tesla (1.6%), Square (1.4%) and AMD (1.4%) . It is managed by Tony Kim and Reid Menge and is also committed to other values ​​such as ZoonInfo. According to BlackRock, the largest exposures of industry groups were in software and the internet; These industries have the best secular organic growth prospects, driven by innovation, as well as the least sensitivity to late-cycle macroeconomics. Of course, the fund also highlights that it had a substantial allocation to the issue of digital transformation, as global companies continued to modernize their operations. Looking at the long term, the fund believes that the investment thesis is not hampered by the medium-term effects of covid-19, as many of these companies are in fact seeing increased demand as global companies rush to Invest in digitizing your operations.

Lastly, the Global Technology and Innovation Fund, owned by the manager Janus Henderson, has obtained a return of close to 25% so far this year. Its main positions are: Apple, with a portfolio weight close to 9%, Microsoft (7.84%), Amazon (4.55%), Adobe (4.24%), Facebook (4.22%), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (4.03%), Mastercard (+ 3.69%), Salesforce.com (3.06%), ASML (3%) and Texas Instrument (2.91%), which account for 46.51% of the total. In addition, it invests in other stocks such as Alavara and MercadoLibre. It is managed by Denny Fish and aims to achieve at least an annual return that is 2% above the MSCI ACWI Technology Index. Invests 96% in equities, 80% in US stocks and 16% in foreign stocks. For the fund, technology stocks generally outperformed broader equity markets and all subsectors delivered positive returns, led by remarkably strong performance from internet services and application software companies.

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On video | The ‘Paths’ to strengthen the health system in Barranquilla

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Guaranteeing timely and quality medical care for Barranquilla residents has become the Primary objective of the District with the process of modernization of the public health network, which continues to advance and plans to benefit more than 170 thousand citizens with new hospital projects.

Since 2008, the district administration has been working to build a solid health model, which has been cataloged repeatedly as one of the most successful in the national territory.

Although the health emergency due to Covid-19 was a huge challenge for the hospital infrastructure of the capital of the Atlantic, in the Development Plan ‘I am Barranquilla’, that governs the period 2020-2023, a series of actions were contemplated so that citizens have a timely and adequate response to your health requirements.

“We want the health of Barranquilla to continue its unstoppable march, that is why we are providing them with all the professional capacity so that care is timely and without access barriers. It is our main objective, guarantee comprehensive insurance, minimize the risks of becoming ill and provide quality health programs to all“Said the mayor Jaime Pumarejo Heins.

He was emphatic in stating that in this new stage they will bet on “turn the health system upside down, moving to a much more preventive health, with doctors in charge of specific populations ”.

The district president also stressed that the “robustness” in health services continues to grow, which directly impacts on the quality of life of Barranquilla and the Caribbean region.

“The public hospital network has been and will continue to be a national management model, where the resources obtained by the Prohospitales level 1 and 2 stamp are invested in providing efficiently and transparently to the more than 600 thousand users of the subsidized regime, as well as to anyone who requires it because We are also a regional reference center for health care in the Caribbean”, Reiterated the president.

In turn, Humberto Mendoza, Secretary of Health of Barranquilla, He stated that the district network model has provided “mobilization guarantees” to more than 19 thousand users, guaranteeing that “there are no barriers to access” to said services.

The official also expressed that the great challenge for the public network is strengthen the preventive medicine model to detect patients in time who have diseases that may pose risks to their life.

“In the city we have a network model that allows patients to access medium and high complexity services without authorizing systems limiting quality and care. That we will follow reinforcing to provide greater guarantees to citizens”, He added.

According to figures from the Mayor’s Office, accessibility to health increased 15 times between 2007 and 2018. It is expected that this year it will increase with the start-up of facilities such as the Camino Ciudadela 20 de Julio and Paso Galán.

For next year, this indicator will continue to grow, taking into account that the works of the New Barranquilla and Nazareth Roads will be delivered, which are ahead in two important sectors of the city.

Mayor Pumarejo has been making visits to these spaces to verify the progress of the works, taking into account that they were detained for a period due to the pandemic and currently not all the workers have been able to reintegrate, in order to comply with the corresponding regulations.

“We continue to grow with this new offer that adds to a solid network that is providing quality services to Barranquilla residents, showing that it is possible, as we have said for so long, to have quality, sustainable public health that continue to be a source of pride for each of us”Pumarejo said during one of those tours.

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Stocks and bonds rose in a volatile wheel and country risk fell for the second time in a row

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Since the new restrictions for access to the official exchange market, the benchmark accumulated a decline of 6.1%, while at the same time it was located close to 20% below the maximums reached in August.

Despite the improvements over the end of the week, the Portfolio Personal Inversiones brokerage noted that there is a perceived tendency for investors to exit the Argentine risk, behavior that was reflected in the acceleration of the operations of Cedears (shares of non-Argentine companies listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange) over local shares.

The shares that rose the most this Friday were those of the energy sector; the papers of Cresud, Central Puerto, Transportadora de Gas del Norte and Transener posted gains of over 3.5%.

Meanwhile, the ADRs of Argentine companies, which are listed on Wall Street, closed unevenly after operating with losses for much of the round and suffering significant significant losses at the beginning of the week.

Thursday, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it will send a mission to Argentina in early October in order to discuss the terms of the new agreement.

“In the midst of political tensions and economic uncertainty, the fund’s mission awakens expectations, since it could not only help to agree on a comprehensive economic plan that gives investors greater confidence, but also contribute to the roll-over of debts to continue clearing the financial program for the next few years, “said the economist Gustavo Ber.

It should be remembered that the debt to be restructured with the multilateral credit organization amounts to US $ 44,000 million. The options being considered are, on the one hand, signing a new “stand-by” that would allow the country to start paying from 2024 in exchange for a commitment in fiscal matters or, on the other hand, agreeing on an extended facility plan ( “EFF”), which would be looser in terms of time but more rigorous in terms of the conditions for the Government’s economic plan.

Bonds and country risk

In the fixed income segment, the new bonds aroused a little more demand from operators, that made selective purchases in the midst of reduced liquidity.

Among the brand-new titles, those with longer terms ended up higher; Global D 2035 (New York law) grew 0.6% and Bonar 2041 (local law) rose 1.4%. Hand in hand with an increase in stock exchange rates, bonds denominated in dollars showed a majority of falls while those denominated in pesos rose.

With these data, in the accumulated of the week, all the local titles presented contractions around 5%.

“There is no news that can justify the ups or downs, everything is still in a situation of total uncertainty. This is more contingent on small purchases and sales without liquidity, than any possible good news for the future, “Mariano Sardáns, director of the asset manager FDI, told Reuters.

“The falls in bonds in recent days made little sense when the government’s short-term expenditures are almost nil. There were already some debt holders who had planned to leave before the swap, but as they had no liquidity, these exits they cause you big falls, “he added.

The bonds came from yielding an average 2.4% in the first four days of the week, which led to Risk country to exceed 1,400 points. However, in the last two days, the index produced by the JP Morgan fell and this Friday it stood at 1,332 basis points. Two consecutive falls were not perceived in this indicator since the beginning of September, when the successful results of the debt swaps were announced.

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The ‘Paths’ to strengthen the health system in Barranquilla

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Guaranteeing timely and quality medical care for Barranquilla residents has become the primary objective of the District with the modernization process of the public health network, which continues to advance and plans to benefit more than 170 thousand citizens with new hospital projects.

Since 2008, the district administration has been working to build a solid health model, which has been repeatedly classified as one of the most successful in the national territory.

Although the health emergency caused by Covid-19 was a huge challenge for the hospital infrastructure of the Atlantic capital, in the Development Plan ‘I am Barranquilla’, which is valid for the period 2020-2023, a series of actions were contemplated so that citizens have a timely and adequate response to their health requirements.

“We want the health of Barranquilla to continue its unstoppable march, that is why we are providing them with all the professional capacity so that care is timely and without access barriers. It is our main objective, to guarantee comprehensive insurance for them, minimize the risks of getting sick and provide quality health programs for all, ”said Mayor Jaime Pumarejo Heins.

He was emphatic in stating that in this new stage they will bet on “turning the health system upside down, moving to much more preventive health, with doctors in charge of specific populations.”

The district president also highlighted that the “robustness” in health services continues to grow, which has a direct impact on the quality of life of Barranquilla and the Caribbean region.

“The public hospital network has been and will continue to be a national management model, where the resources obtained by the Prohospitales level 1 and 2 stamp are invested in providing efficiently and transparently to the more than 600 thousand users of the subsidized regime, as well as to anyone who requires it because we are also a regional reference center in health care in the Caribbean, “reiterated the president.

In turn, Humberto Mendoza, Barranquilla’s Secretary of Health, stated that the district network model has provided “mobilization guarantees” to more than 19 thousand users, guaranteeing that “there are no barriers to access” to these services.

The official also said that the great challenge for the public network is to strengthen the preventive medicine model to detect patients with diseases that may pose risks to their lives in time.

“In the city we have a network model that allows patients to access medium and high complexity services without authorizing systems limiting quality and care. We are going to continue strengthening that to provide greater guarantees to citizens, ”he added.

According to the Mayor’s Office figures, health accessibility increased 15 times between 2007 and 2018. It is expected that this year it will increase with the start-up of facilities such as the Camino Ciudadela 20 de Julio and Paso Galán.

For next year, this indicator will continue to grow, taking into account that the works of the New Barranquilla and Nazareth Roads will be delivered, which are being carried out in two important sectors of the city.

Mayor Pumarejo has been making visits to these spaces to verify the progress of the works, taking into account that they were detained for a period due to the pandemic and currently not all the workers have been able to reintegrate, in order to comply with the corresponding regulations.

“We continue to grow with this new offer that adds to a solid network that is providing quality services to Barranquilla residents, demonstrating that it is possible, as we have said for so long, to have quality, sustainable public health that continues to be a pride for each one of us ”, said Pumarejo during one of those tours.

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Argentine ADRs climbed to 14% on Wall Street, and country risk fell after 6 increases in a row

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“There was no specific catalyst to explain the rebound. I think the dynamics will be up and down, with smaller volumes. It happens that one day three funds buy everything and you go up, while another day the opposite happens. Argentina came with many consecutive falls, so everything was very cheap on Wall Street ”, Rafael Di Giorno, director of Proficio Investment, remarked to Ámbito.

For his part, Joaquín Candia, an analyst at Rava, recalled that “we must not lose sight of the fact that the underlying situation did not change and that having fallen so much in a short time, prices began to become more attractive for investors more prone to risk, as this style can rebound over time. “

rava 24-9.jpg

The rises in ADRs were so strong this Thursday that not even the sudden decline in the CCL dollar prevented the S&P Merval de Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA) stock index will end higher. The leading panel managed to close with an increase of 2.2%, to 41,875 units.

In this way, the most important increases of the day were recorded by the Galicia shares (+ 7.2%); Supervielle (+ 6.9%); and Transportadora de Gas del Norte (+ 6.5%).

In the local market, the lack of volume is the main characteristic with significant fluctuations in most of the contributors, they stand out at the tables, beyond the fact that this Thursday a rebound was observed: $ 1,336 million were traded, 44% more than on Wednesday . That amount was half of what was negotiated in CEDEAR, which reached $ 2,635 million.

After the restructuring of some 100,000 million dollars with creditors, the market focuses on the negotiation of another millionaire debt (about 44,000 million dollars) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In that sense, the IMF spokesman, Gerry Rice, said Thursday that the agency maintains a “very fluid and constructive dialogue” with the Argentine authorities and is working on a plan for a visit by its staff in early October.

Beyond the rise of this Thursday, the Argentine financial market shows concern after economic indicators that raise doubts for the future, despite a recent successful swap of sovereign debt for some US $ 100 billion whose effect quickly faded.

INDEC reported this week a historic drop in GDP of 19.1% year-on-year in the second quarter and an increase in the unemployment rate to 13.1%, as a result of the effects of the pandemic and quarantine, which adds up high inflation and recent obstacles imposed by the Central Bank (BCRA) on the exchange market in an attempt to preserve its reserves.

On the external front, on the other hand, The main American indices posted slight increases after a volatile session, in which the shares of the technology sector managed to recover from the falls of recent days. In this way the Nasdaq (+ 0.4%) led the rises, in a day in which it was known that the requests for unemployment insurance amounted to 870 thousand requests, slightly above market expectations.

Bonds and country risk

In the fixed income segment, and like stocks, the new exchange bonds closed unevenly, with increases in the versions in pesos and a majority of decreases among those nominated in dollars.

A better performance was observed for the bonds issued under local law. In any case, at the end of the round “there was no clear preference for specific legislation since the outlook is quite uncertain and neither was the mission announced by the IMF for October in the country a sufficiently important driver for investors to fully resume confidence in local assets, “Candia said.

Beyond this rebound, Argentine securities maintain high rates due to the risk associated with the Argentine macroeconomic situation.

After six consecutive raises, the Argentina’s country risk, of the JP Morgan bank, fell 2.9% to 1,350 basis points. On Wednesday it had exceeded 1,400 points intraday.

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New wave of Covid-19 and bank data leak caused losses of up to 8% in world markets

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In this context, the shares of the “old continent” registered their worst fall in three months on Monday. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell 4.4%; Milan and Paris fell 3.7%, while Madrid sank 3.4%, as did London. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 3.2%, a decline not seen since the beginning of June.

On concerns about new infections, the travel and leisure index collapsed 5.2%, accumulating its worst two-day decline since April, with airlines such as IAG – which owns British Airway – plummeting 12.1%. In addition, Lufthansa plunged 9.5% after further cutting its fleet and workforce due to the coronavirus crisis.

Parallel, European banks fell 5.7% to hover around record lows after a joint report by 108 media outlets warned of a possible link between entities such as HSBC and Deutsche Bank with astronomical amounts of “dirty money.”

These documents refer to some 2 trillion dollars (1.7 trillion euros) of transactions between 1999 and 2017 originating from drugs and criminal acts, and even from embezzled fortunes in developing countries.

For its part, on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8% to 27,147.7 units; the S&P 500 lost 1.2% to 3,281.06 units and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1% to 10,778.80 units.

Given this climate, the CBOE volatility index of the market (VIX), a measure of investor anxiety, soared to its highest level in nearly two weeks.

The death of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also made it less likely that another stimulus package will pass through Congress before the November 3 presidential election, aid that remains “stalemate.” for three months.

This caused big falls in the health sector. Healthcare providers came under pressure from uncertainty about the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, with Universal Health Services shares falling sharply.

Dollar

Faced with uncertainty, the dollar rose after two weeks of declines. “What we are seeing with the dollar is a bet on a safe haven without risk,” said Erik Bregar, head of foreign exchange strategy at the Exchange Bank of Canada in Toronto, adding that the trigger was fear in European morning trading of a new confinement in the United Kingdom due to the coronavirus.

The dollar index, which compares the greenback with six prominent currencies, was up 0.85% to 93.297 units, while the euro lost 0.9% to $ 1.1734, the yen weakened 0.1 %, to 104.70 units per dollar, and the pound sterling lost 0.9%, to 1.2797 dollars.

Metals

Gold and other metals suffered sharp declines, affected by an appreciation of the dollar, in a week in which investors will be watching the speeches of the authorities of the Federal Reserve in search of clues on more stimulus measures to revive a economy hit by coronavirus.

Gold lost 2.1% to $ 1,909.05 an ounce, after hitting its lowest value since Aug. 12 earlier. Prices fell almost 10% from an all-time high reached at the beginning of last month, due to a drop in hopes for new stimuli.

“Gold should be trading higher with safe haven demand, but it’s kind of a repeat as in the spring when the market sell-off, participants have been selling assets across the board,” said Bob Haberkorn, strategist Market Senior at RJO Futures

More strongly, spot silver collapsed 8.3% to $ 24.53, its lowest level in more than a month.

Petroleum

Oil prices fell sharply due to the return of Libyan exports and fear of a new confinement due to the outbreaks of coronavirus, which would be disastrous for demand.

WTI’s barrel for October delivery lost 4.4% compared to the close on Friday and closed at $ 39.31. For its part, that of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in November fell 4% in London and ended the day at US $ 41.44.

The Libyan National Petroleum Company (NOC) announced on Saturday the resumption of crude oil production and exports in Libya at “safe” sites.

This news came the day after the Marshal who controls the east of the country, Khalifa Haftar, announced the lifting, under conditions, of the eight-month blockade imposed by his forces.

Grain

The futures of soybeans, wheat and corn collapsed this Monday in the Chicago Market, due to sales of investment funds in this context of risk aversion by the new wave of infections.

Despite sustained demand from China, soybeans suffered a loss of more than 2%, their biggest daily decline since April 1. It should be remembered that the strong demand from the Asian giant took the oilseed to its highest level in more than two years last week.

In the meantime, Wheat decreased 3.5% (US $ 7.44) and closed at US $ 203.84 per ton, in what was its largest daily percentage drop since August 2019.

Argentine assets

Amid this scenario, the S&P stock index Merval de Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA) began on Monday with a drop of 4% but then attenuated falls to 1.8% due to the rise of the CCL dollar, which touched $ 140 and brought the exchange gap with the official dollar to 85 %, which reflects that the expectations of devaluation of the peso are still latent.

In the fixed income segment, the new bonds they closed with losses of up to 3.3%, as reflected by the decline in Bonar 2035. Sovereign bonds accumulated a loss of up to 13% last week.

In New York, the falls were more pronounced, something that was reflected in Argentine country risk, which rose 6.4% to 1,348 basis points, compared to the 1,083 basis points recorded on September 10 after reconfiguring with the new bonds.

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New bonds in dollars fell to 1.7% but the Merval cut the streak of falls

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It should be remembered that on Monday, after the five-day “parking lot”, the new bonds issued in the recent debt swap under local law debuted. Average annual return on assets approached 13%, with the exception of Bonar 2030, whose yield was closer to 12%.

On Wednesday it will be the turn in the local market of the dollar bonds under foreign law, although internationally they are already fully listed.

Through negotiations with private creditors, Argentina managed to restructure more than $ 100 billion. The next challenge for the Government will be to modify the terms of a liability of US $ 44,000 million with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In this frame, the country risk index remains practically stable since it barely fell by one unit to 1,119 basis points as measured by JP.Morgan.

Merval

For its part, in a day with many changes, the Buenos Aires bag it ended unchanged from Monday and managed to break a streak of two consecutive declines, which had brought the S&P Merval to its lowest level of the month.

The Argentine Stock Exchange and Markets index concluded at 44,628 units, after registering a loss of more than 1% in the morning, and then rising during noon. In the last two days, the Merval had suffered a loss of 4.8%.

As on Monday, the highest earnings were presented Telecom since their actions rose 7%, both in the local market and on Wall Street.

“It could be said that it was a successful wheel since the day began with heavy losses in all the Merval components, which then cut losses as the hours passed. Investors expect positive signals from the Government to risk entering Argentine equity and while positioning themselves in the CEDEARs to avoid local risk“explained Joaquín Candia, from the Rava stock market company.

Despite the improvement, Argentine stocks failed to keep up with the surge in the New York stock market, which exhibited increases of up to 1.2%, driven by technology stocks.

The domestic market remains attentive to the entry of the budget for 2021 to the Chamber of Deputies, in which a fiscal deficit of 4.5% of GDP and a growth of the Argentine economy of 5.5% for next year would be estimated.

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In Cartagena they seize 50 thousand false medicines against COVID-19

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Three containers from Asia, which contained counterfeit products to detect and combat COVID-19 and which belonged to a recognized brand worldwide, were seized by the Tax and Customs Police in Cartagena.

The operation was carried out Within the framework of the operationalization of the International Alert System, and thanks to information provided by the Police Community of America (AMERIPOL), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), HSI and CBP.

In the containers there were 50 thousand medicines, which, according to the investigations carried out, were going to Venezuela.

According to the investigations carried out by international agencies and the Colombian authorities, they realize that in order to avoid the suspicion of the customs agencies of our country, the merchandise would have made a stopover in Cartagena to be distributed in smaller cargo units that would enter the neighboring country of Venezuela for its illegal commercialization.

“This activity constitutes a process of materialization of an investigation carried out against a criminal structure dedicated to money laundering through foreign trade activities, with criminal interference in the cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla, Medellín and Bogotá ”, stated the POLFA.

It was also indicated that the Police and some Customs services of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, OIJ of Costa Rica and the National Police of Colombia will begin this week, the so-called “Operation ESLABÓN”, coordinated through DIAN-POLFA and AMERIPOL in the fight against smuggling and counterfeiting of products related to COVID-19.

During the course of 2020 and the period of the pandemic in Cartagena, 556 actions have been carried out to control and apprehend 4.7 million goods valued at 220 billion pesos, among which are: medicines, cigarettes, liquors, toys, footwear, electrical appliances, among others.

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