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The United States has enforced penalties on a operation of several persons and entities charged of enlisting former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Network Composition

Announcing the sanctions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the network was primarily made up of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have been recruited to go to Sudan to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a faction linked to horrific war crimes including massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light in 2024, prompted by an investigation which found that more than 300 former soldiers had been recruited to engage in combat – an event that led to an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

These South American veterans have long been considered as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their vast combat experience gleaned from a long-running domestic war, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary was quoted as saying that instructing minors was "terrible and insane" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Targeted Persons

Among those sanctioned was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer located in the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury said he had a central role in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated ran a firm linked to handling funds and payroll for the scheme. "Recently, American entities connected to Duque carried out several money transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement said.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated said to have conducted wire transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"The US once more urges outside forces to cease providing monetary and weaponry aid to the combatants," the Treasury announced.

Expert Analysis

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, described the sanctions as a "highly important" development, noting that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, Bogotá ratified a statute approving the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in foreign conflicts and change its security approach.

Another expert, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, noting that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for combating rampant mercenarism".

"It operates in the black market and based out of the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The UAE has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, allegations it disputes. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," McFate warned.