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The Washington has levied restrictions on a network of four individuals and four companies charged of recruiting South American contractors to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Operation Structure

Revealing the restrictions on Tuesday, the American treasury stated the network was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have been recruited to go to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the Sudanese RSF militia, a group accused of severe violations such as targeted ethnic killings and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers was first uncovered in 2024, prompted by an investigation which disclosed that more than 300 former soldiers had been contracted to participate in the war – an revelation that resulted in an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from years of internal conflict, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In Sudan, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching minors, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and engaged in frontline combat. One source remarked that instructing minors was "terrible and insane" but added that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a individual with dual citizenship and retired Colombian military officer based in the Dubai. The Treasury said he had a pivotal function in hiring and sending former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated ran a firm implicated in processing money and salaries for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, US-based firms connected to Duque carried out several money transfers, worth millions," the Treasury statement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted money transfers associated with Duque and his businesses.

"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to stop giving financial and military support to the belligerents," the Treasury said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

An expert, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "major" step, stating that "identifying the recruiters is the correct approach".

It was also noted that, the Colombian government has enacted a piece of legislation approving the global treaty against mercenarism, seeking to reduce its citizens' long history in international fights and transform domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, urged more caution, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The UAE has been repeatedly implicated of providing arms to the militia, allegations it disputes. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.