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The US government has imposed sanctions on a network of several persons and entities accused of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Revealing the sanctions on this week, the American treasury stated the operation was primarily made up of Colombian nationals and companies.

Hundreds of former Colombian military personnel have been recruited to go to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in terrible atrocities encompassing targeted ethnic killings and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The involvement of Colombian fighters initially emerged the previous year, prompted by an inquiry which found that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been contracted to engage in combat – an discovery that resulted in an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during decades of civil war, training on Western military gear, and superior tactical education.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the contractors have allegedly instructed minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. An individual involved was quoted as saying that working with child soldiers was "horrific and irrational" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Targeted Persons

Among those penalized was a dual national, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier located in the UAE. The Treasury alleged he played a key part in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the penalty list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated oversaw a company implicated in processing money and salaries for the recruitment operation. "In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms linked to Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the official announcement said.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed accused of wire transfers associated with Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to cease providing financial and military support to the combatants," the agency stated.

Expert Analysis

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, described the actions as a "very significant" milestone, stating that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the correct approach".

It was also noted that, the Colombian government ratified a statute approving the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in foreign conflicts and reshape national security policy.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, called for greater wariness, noting that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with the growing mercenary trade".

"It operates in the black market and based out of Dubai, which is difficult to penalize," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, allegations it disputes. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," McFate warned.