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The United States has enforced penalties on a network of four people and four firms charged of hiring South American contractors to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Group Makeup

Revealing the restrictions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Hundreds of retired Colombian troops have reportedly travelled to the Sudanese warzone to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a force implicated in terrible atrocities including ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light last year, prompted by an report which disclosed that more than 300 retired troops had been contracted to engage in combat – an event that resulted in an unusual statement of regret from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

These South American veterans have widely regarded as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their vast combat experience acquired during years of internal conflict, training on Western military gear, and superior tactical education.

Activities in Sudan

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have reportedly trained underage fighters, provided drone warfare training, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary previously stated that working with child soldiers was "awful and crazy" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier operating from the Dubai. The Treasury said he had a central role in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who the Treasury stated managed a business accused of managing finances and payments for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, American entities linked to Duque conducted multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the government release stated.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the company she managed said to have conducted wire transfers linked to Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to halt the flow of financial and military support to the warring parties," the department stated.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, described the sanctions as a "highly important" development, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the right way to go".

Furthermore, the Colombian government recently passed a statute endorsing the anti-mercenary convention, aiming to curb years of participation by its nationals in overseas wars and reshape domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, stating that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and based out of the Emirates, 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," McFate warned.