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The United States has imposed sanctions on a group of several persons and entities charged of recruiting South American contractors to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group which the US alleges of acts of genocide.

Network Composition

Revealing the sanctions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the network was largely composed of Colombian nationals and companies.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a group implicated in horrific war crimes including massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The participation of ex-soldiers initially emerged in 2024, following an inquiry which found that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been recruited to engage in combat – an revelation that prompted 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 a long-running domestic war, familiarity with Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the Colombians have reportedly trained minors, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved remarked that training children was "terrible and insane" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier based in the Dubai. The US authorities said he had a pivotal function in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated oversaw a company accused of processing money and salaries for the recruitment operation. "Recently, companies in the United States linked to Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be penalized, with the entity she oversaw alleged to have wire transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on external actors to stop giving funding and arms to the combatants," the department stated.

Expert Analysis

A senior analyst, with the International Crisis Group, described the sanctions as a "major" development, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the proper strategy".

It was also noted that, the Colombian government recently passed a statute endorsing the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, aiming to curb its citizens' long history in international fights and reshape domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, saying that "restrictions are needed but not enough for addressing the growing mercenary trade".

"This is a shadow economy and based out of the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The United Arab Emirates has been frequently alleged of providing arms to the militia, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," McFate warned.