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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 combat alongside and instruct a armed faction in Sudan the United States claims of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Revealing the measures on this week, the American treasury stated the operation was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have been recruited to go to Sudan to fight alongside the Sudanese RSF militia, a force linked to horrific war crimes such as massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Revelation of Role

The involvement of Colombian fighters initially emerged last year, prompted by an report which found that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been contracted to fight – an event that resulted in an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge acquired during decades of civil war, training on advanced weaponry, and superior tactical education.

Reported Actions

In Sudan, the contractors have allegedly instructed child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and participated in direct battles. One source previously stated that training children was "horrific and irrational" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer based in the Dubai. The US authorities said he had a central role in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who authorities say managed a business implicated in processing money and salaries for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms associated with Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, amounting to millions," the Treasury statement stated.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be targeted, with the company she managed alleged to have money transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to cease providing financial and military support to the warring parties," the department said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, described the actions as a "very significant" step, stating that "targeting the enablers is the proper strategy".

She added that, Bogotá has enacted a statute approving the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and transform national security policy.

A mercenary specialist, a authority on private military contractors, called for greater wariness, saying that "restrictions are needed but not enough for addressing widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and based out of the UAE, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he said. The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly implicated of arming the RSF, allegations it disputes. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," McFate warned.