🔗 Share this article

The Washington has imposed sanctions on a operation of four individuals and four companies alleged of enlisting South American contractors to combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Revealing the measures 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 reportedly travelled to the Sudanese warzone to operate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group accused of terrible atrocities such as massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers initially emerged in 2024, following an report which disclosed that more than 300 retired troops had been hired to participate in the war – an discovery that led to an unprecedented apology from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their vast combat experience resulting from decades of civil war, training on advanced weaponry, and superior tactical education.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and fought directly on the frontlines. A mercenary was quoted as saying that training children was "horrific and irrational" but noted that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those targeted was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and retired Colombian military officer based in the Dubai. The Treasury alleged he played a central role in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the penalty list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual national who authorities say ran a firm implicated in managing finances and payments for the network. "Over the past two years, US-based firms linked to Duque carried out several money transfers, worth millions," the Treasury statement stated.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the firm she operated alleged to have wire transfers associated with Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to cease providing funding and arms to the warring parties," the department said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, labeled the sanctions as a "highly important" development, saying that "identifying the recruiters is the correct approach".

She added that, Bogotá ratified a law ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in international fights and reshape domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a authority on private military contractors, urged more caution, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and operating from the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he commented. The Emirati government has been frequently alleged of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.