The United States has imposed significant financial sanctions on an international network allegedly responsible for recruiting and deploying hundreds of former Colombian soldiers to fight alongside a Sudanese paramilitary group accused of atrocities. The targeted network, comprising four individuals and four companies, is accused of providing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with seasoned combatants, thereby exacerbating one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
This development follows investigative reports published last year which first exposed the extensive involvement of Colombian mercenaries in the Sudanese conflict. The sanctions, announced this Tuesday by the U.S. Treasury, highlight a sophisticated operation with global reach. Central to the allegations is Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a retired Colombian military officer holding dual citizenship with Italy, who is believed to have orchestrated recruitment efforts from his base in the United Arab Emirates.
The involvement of these experienced fighters represents a significant and troubling escalation in the capabilities of the RSF. These mercenaries bring not only extensive battlefield experience from Colombia’s internal conflicts but also familiarity with NATO-standard equipment and advanced tactical training. Reports from the ground indicate their activities have ranged from direct frontline combat to instructing RSF members in specialized skills, including drone operation. Most disturbingly, accounts have emerged of their participation in training regimes that involved child soldiers. One mercenary, in a joint investigation by The Guardian and Bogotá-based outlet La Silla Vacía, described the practice as "awful and crazy" but cynically added that "unfortunately that's how war is."
The financial architecture supporting this mercenary pipeline appears complex. U.S. authorities allege that Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen, managed entities responsible for processing the operation’s payroll and logistics. According to the Treasury statement, firms linked to Duque Botero executed a series of substantial wire transfers originating in the United States throughout 2024 and 2025, channeling millions of dollars to sustain the network. Another sanctioned individual, Mónica Muñoz Ucros, is implicated through a company accused of facilitating these international monetary movements.
The revelation of this connection has had diplomatic reverberations, prompting Colombia’s foreign ministry to issue a formal apology—an unprecedented move acknowledging the grave implications of its citizens’ involvement abroad. For the United States, the sanctions are a direct response to the RSF’s documented campaign of violence, which Washington has condemned as encompassing war crimes, ethnic slaughter, and acts of genocide, particularly in besieged cities like El Fasher.
This action underscores the increasingly transnational nature of modern conflict, where mercenary capital and military expertise are commodified across continents. While the immediate impact freezes the sanctioned entities' U.S.-linked assets, the broader challenge remains: severing the financial lifelines that allow such networks to thrive and curbing the flow of professional soldiers into wars where they compound civilian suffering. The spotlight on this Colombian nexus marks a critical step in addressing the external enablers of Sudan’s devastation.