🔗 Share this article

The US government has enforced penalties on a group of four individuals and four companies alleged of hiring former Colombian soldiers to fight for and train a armed faction in Sudan that Washington accuses of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

Announcing the sanctions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the network was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a group implicated in terrible atrocities including ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The involvement of Colombian fighters was first uncovered the previous year, following an inquiry which found that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been hired to engage in combat – an revelation that led to an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have historically been seen as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their considerable warzone knowledge gleaned from a long-running domestic war, knowledge of Nato equipment, and superior tactical education.

Activities in Sudan

In the conflict, the contractors have allegedly instructed minors, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and participated in direct battles. An individual involved previously stated that training children was "terrible and insane" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those penalized was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a individual with dual citizenship and retired Colombian military officer located in the Dubai. The government said he had a central role in enlisting and transporting former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who authorities say ran a firm implicated in processing money and salaries for the recruitment operation. "Recently, US-based firms connected to Duque engaged in numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be targeted, with the company she managed accused of money transfers linked to Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to stop giving monetary and weaponry aid to the warring parties," the department stated.

Analyst Commentary

Elizabeth Dickinson, from a conflict think tank, labeled the sanctions as a "major" development, stating that "targeting the enablers is the correct approach".

It was also noted that, the Colombian government recently passed a statute ratifying the anti-mercenary convention, designed to limit years of participation by its nationals in international fights and reshape national security policy.

Sean McFate, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and centered in the UAE, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The UAE has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.