Patowalker
Agree with the pinch of salt, ergo "...claims...". And I've not seen any other research which might confirm or dispute the OESP claim. On the face of it, if it's true that LaMia conducted four flights between Medellin (Rio Negro) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra or Cochabamba in the recent past, might one not think the LaMia pilots had discovered a neat way around the rules, considering they had a man in place in the Bolivian equivalent of FAA?
The broad brush is pretty clear as to what happened; details will be forthcoming in the days, weeks, months ahead. Doubt any could be more shocking than what we've heard already.