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The United States has levied restrictions on a network of four individuals and four companies alleged of enlisting former Colombian soldiers to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan which the US alleges of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Announcing the sanctions on this week, the Treasury stated the operation was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to the Sudanese warzone to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a force linked to severe violations including massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged in 2024, prompted by an inquiry which disclosed that hundreds of retired troops had been contracted to participate in the war – an revelation that led to an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

Colombian ex-soldiers have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their vast combat experience resulting from years of internal conflict, familiarity with Nato equipment, and elite military instruction.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the Colombians have allegedly instructed child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary was quoted as saying that working with child soldiers was "terrible and insane" but commented that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a dual national, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and former army officer based in the UAE. The US authorities accused him a central role in hiring and sending mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the penalty list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who authorities say oversaw a company accused of processing money and salaries for the network. "Recently, companies in the United States associated with Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the official announcement noted.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the final person to be targeted, with the entity she oversaw alleged to have financial transactions connected to Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to stop giving financial and military support to the combatants," the department said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, from a conflict think tank, labeled the sanctions as a "very significant" step, stating that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Colombia recently passed a statute ratifying the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit its citizens' long history in international fights and change domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a authority on private military contractors, urged more caution, noting that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and centered in the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.