🔗 Share this article

The US government has enforced penalties on a network of four individuals and four companies alleged of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the restrictions on this week, the American treasury stated the operation was largely composed of Colombian citizens and firms.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the Sudanese RSF militia, a faction accused of horrific war crimes encompassing targeted ethnic killings and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The involvement of Colombian fighters was first uncovered in 2024, after an report which disclosed that over three hundred retired troops had been hired to engage in combat – an discovery that led to an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their vast combat experience gleaned from years of internal conflict, knowledge of Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved remarked that instructing minors was "horrific and irrational" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and retired Colombian military officer operating from the Dubai. The US authorities accused him a key part in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was penalized as well.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated ran a firm accused of processing money and salaries for the network. "Over the past two years, companies in the United States connected to Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed alleged to have financial transactions linked to Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to cease providing financial and military support to the combatants," the agency announced.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, described the actions as a "major" milestone, saying that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".

She added that, the Colombian government ratified a law approving the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and change domestic defense strategy.

Sean McFate, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, stating that "restrictions are needed but not enough for combating the growing mercenary trade".

"It’s an illicit economy and based out of the Emirates, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he stated. The Emirati government has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.