🔗 Share this article

The United States has imposed sanctions on a group of several persons and entities charged of recruiting Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of committing genocide.

Network Composition

Announcing the restrictions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the network was primarily made up of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a faction accused of terrible atrocities encompassing ethnically targeted slaughter and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries was first uncovered in 2024, following an report which found that hundreds of former soldiers had been recruited to participate in the war – an revelation that prompted an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

These South American veterans have widely regarded as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during decades of civil war, training on advanced weaponry, and superior tactical education.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed underage fighters, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved remarked that working with child soldiers was "horrific and irrational" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Named Entities

Among those targeted was a dual national, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier located in the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury said he had a key part in enlisting and transporting former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who authorities say oversaw a company linked to managing finances and payments for the network. "Recently, American entities connected to Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the final person to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted wire transfers associated with Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on external actors to stop giving financial and military support to the belligerents," the department announced.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, described the measures as a "highly important" step, noting that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the proper strategy".

She added that, the Colombian government recently passed a statute endorsing the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit its citizens' long history in international fights and reshape its security approach.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, advised additional measures, noting that "restrictions are needed but not enough for addressing the growing mercenary trade".

"It’s an illicit economy and based out of the UAE, which is difficult to penalize," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been widely accused of providing arms to the militia, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," the expert cautioned.