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The Washington has imposed sanctions on a group of several persons and entities accused of recruiting South American contractors to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group that Washington accuses of genocidal acts.

Network Composition

Announcing the measures on this week, the Treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Numerous of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the RSF paramilitary group, a group linked to terrible atrocities such as ethnically targeted slaughter and widespread kidnappings.

Revelation of Role

The involvement of Colombian fighters was first uncovered last year, prompted by an report which revealed that more than 300 retired troops had been recruited to fight – an discovery that resulted in an unprecedented apology from the Colombian government.

Former Colombian military have long been considered as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their vast combat experience resulting from a long-running domestic war, training on Nato equipment, and elite military instruction.

Activities in Sudan

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching child soldiers, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved remarked that training children was "horrific and irrational" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a individual with dual citizenship and ex-soldier located in the UAE. The Treasury said he had a pivotal function in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, 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 managing finances and payments for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, American entities linked to Duque engaged in several money transfers, worth millions," the government release said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be targeted, with the firm she operated said to have conducted money transfers associated with Duque and his operations.

"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to cease providing monetary and weaponry aid to the belligerents," the agency said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, called the measures as a "highly important" development, noting that "identifying the recruiters is the correct approach".

Furthermore, Bogotá has enacted a statute approving the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in international fights and change domestic defense strategy.

Sean McFate, an expert on mercenaries, advised additional measures, noting that "restrictions are needed but not enough for combating rampant mercenarism".

"This is a shadow economy and centered in the UAE, which is difficult to penalize," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," McFate warned.