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The US government has levied restrictions on a network of four individuals and four companies alleged of hiring South American contractors to support and educate a militia force in Sudan which the US alleges of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the sanctions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was primarily made up of Colombian citizens and firms.

Scores of former Colombian military personnel have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a force accused of terrible atrocities such as massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged in 2024, following an investigation which disclosed that over three hundred former soldiers had been hired to fight – an discovery that prompted an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge gleaned from years of internal conflict, knowledge of Western military gear, and elite military instruction.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the Colombians have allegedly instructed child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary remarked that instructing minors was "horrific and irrational" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was a dual national, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier located in the United Arab Emirates. The government said he had a central role in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who authorities say managed a business accused of managing finances and payments for the scheme. "Recently, US-based firms connected to Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the official announcement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw accused of money transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"Washington reiterates its demand for foreign parties to halt the flow of financial and military support to the warring parties," the Treasury said in a statement.

Reaction

A senior analyst, with the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "very significant" milestone, noting that "identifying the recruiters is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, the Colombian government ratified a statute ratifying the anti-mercenary convention, seeking to reduce its citizens' long history in foreign conflicts and transform national security policy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, urged more caution, stating that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for addressing the growing mercenary trade".

"This is a shadow economy and based out of the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The UAE has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, allegations it disputes. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.