🔗 Share this article

The United States has levied restrictions on a network of four people and four firms accused of hiring former Colombian soldiers to fight for and train a militia force in Sudan that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Announcing the measures on Tuesday, the Treasury stated the network was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Hundreds of former Colombian military personnel have allegedly journeyed to the Sudanese warzone to combat beside the Sudanese RSF militia, a faction linked to terrible atrocities encompassing massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light the previous year, following an inquiry which disclosed that more than 300 former soldiers had been recruited to engage in combat – an event that resulted in an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during years of internal conflict, knowledge of Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the contractors have allegedly instructed child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and fought directly on the frontlines. A mercenary previously stated that training children was "awful and crazy" but noted that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was a retired Colombian officer, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and ex-soldier based in the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury said he had a pivotal function in enlisting and transporting former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who authorities say ran a firm implicated in processing money and salaries for the scheme. "Recently, companies in the United States associated with Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the official announcement stated.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the final person to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw alleged to have financial transactions associated with Duque and his companies.

"The US once more urges outside forces to cease providing monetary and weaponry aid to the combatants," the agency said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the actions as a "very significant" development, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Bogotá ratified a piece of legislation approving the anti-mercenary convention, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in foreign conflicts and change domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, advised additional measures, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing the growing mercenary trade".

"This is a shadow economy and centered in the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The Emirati government has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," the expert cautioned.