🔗 Share this article

The Washington has imposed sanctions on a group of four individuals and four companies accused of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan which the US alleges of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the sanctions on Tuesday, the Treasury stated the scheme was largely composed of Colombian nationals and companies.

Numerous of retired Colombian troops have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to combat beside the Sudanese RSF militia, a group implicated in terrible atrocities including massacres based on ethnicity and widespread kidnappings.

Emergence of Involvement

The role of these mercenaries first came to light last year, following an inquiry which found that over three hundred ex-military personnel had been contracted to engage in combat – an event that prompted an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from decades of civil war, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and superior tactical education.

Role in the Conflict

In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary was quoted as saying that working with child soldiers was "awful and crazy" but added that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Targeted Persons

Among those sanctioned was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and retired Colombian military officer based in the United Arab Emirates. The US authorities said he had a central role in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who officials alleged managed a business accused of handling funds and payroll for the recruitment operation. "In 2024 and 2025, American entities associated with Duque engaged in numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement said.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted financial transactions connected to Duque and his companies.

"The US once more urges outside forces to halt the flow of funding and arms to the belligerents," the agency announced.

Expert Analysis

Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the measures as a "very significant" development, stating that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Colombia recently passed a statute ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in international fights and change national security policy.

Another expert, a scholar on the subject, advised additional measures, saying that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with rampant mercenarism".

"It operates in the black market and centered in the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, claims it rejects. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," McFate warned.