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The United States has enforced penalties on a group of several persons and entities alleged of hiring South American contractors to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of committing genocide.

Network Composition

Disclosing the restrictions on Tuesday, the Treasury stated the scheme was largely composed of Colombian nationals and companies.

Numerous of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the RSF paramilitary group, a faction accused of horrific war crimes including massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers initially emerged last year, following an inquiry which found that hundreds of former soldiers had been contracted to engage in combat – an event that resulted in an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Former Colombian military have widely regarded as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from a long-running domestic war, knowledge of Western military gear, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In Sudan, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. An individual involved remarked that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was a dual national, a individual with dual citizenship and former army officer based in the UAE. The government alleged he played a pivotal function in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who officials alleged managed a business linked to handling funds and payroll for the recruitment operation. "In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms connected to Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the Treasury statement stated.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted wire transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on external actors to stop giving funding and arms to the warring parties," the Treasury said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

A senior analyst, with the International Crisis Group, labeled the sanctions as a "very significant" development, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

She added that, Colombia recently passed a law endorsing the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, aiming to curb decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and change national security policy.

Sean McFate, a scholar on the subject, urged more caution, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for dealing with widespread use of contractors".

"It’s an illicit economy and operating from the Emirates, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he said. The Emirati government has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, allegations it disputes. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," he advised.