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The US government has levied restrictions on a group of four people and four firms charged of enlisting South American contractors to support and educate a armed faction in Sudan which the US alleges of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Disclosing the sanctions on this week, the Treasury stated the network 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 Sudanese RSF militia, a force implicated in horrific war crimes encompassing ethnically targeted slaughter and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged the previous year, after an report 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 officials in Bogotá.

Former Colombian military have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge gleaned from a long-running domestic war, familiarity with Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In the Sudanese theater, the Colombians have reportedly trained child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and participated in direct battles. One source remarked that working with child soldiers was "horrific and irrational" but commented that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those sanctioned was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and retired Colombian military officer located in the UAE. The US authorities said he had a key part in enlisting and transporting ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual national who officials alleged ran a firm implicated in handling funds and payroll for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms associated with Duque engaged in numerous wire transfers, amounting to millions," the Treasury statement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the firm she operated said to have conducted financial transactions linked to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on external actors to halt the flow of monetary and weaponry aid to the combatants," the department stated.

Analyst Commentary

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, described the sanctions as a "very significant" milestone, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Bogotá ratified a piece of legislation endorsing the global treaty against mercenarism, aiming to curb decades of Colombian involvement in international fights and change domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating rampant mercenarism".

"It operates in the black market and based out of Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The United Arab Emirates has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," McFate warned.