🔗 Share this article

The United States has imposed sanctions on a group of four people and four firms charged of hiring South American contractors to fight for and train a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of acts of genocide.

Network Composition

Revealing the sanctions on this week, the Treasury stated the scheme was primarily made up of Colombian nationals and companies.

Hundreds of retired Colombian troops have been recruited to go to the Sudanese warzone to combat beside the Sudanese RSF militia, a group accused of severe violations such as ethnically targeted slaughter and widespread kidnappings.

Discovery of Participation

The involvement of Colombian fighters first came to light last year, prompted by an inquiry which found that more than 300 retired troops had been contracted to participate in the war – an revelation that resulted in an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their vast combat experience resulting from years of internal conflict, training on Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved was quoted as saying that training children was "terrible and insane" but commented that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those penalized was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and former army officer located in the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury accused him a central role in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was similarly targeted.

Also on the penalty list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who officials alleged oversaw a company linked to processing money and salaries for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, American entities connected to Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the official announcement noted.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw accused of financial transactions associated with Duque and his businesses.

"The US once more urges outside forces to stop giving funding and arms to the belligerents," the department stated.

Expert Analysis

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, called the actions as a "highly important" development, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the proper strategy".

It was also noted that, Bogotá ratified a piece of legislation endorsing the anti-mercenary convention, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in international fights and transform domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, called for greater wariness, noting that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for combating widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and centered in the Emirates, which is difficult to penalize," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.