Colombian mercenaries captured by Haitian authorities after the assassination of former President Jovenal Moïse in 2021. Photo: Jean Marc Herve Abelard/EPA/file photo.
Colombia is moving forward with a legislative proposal to prohibit its citizens from participating in armed conflicts abroad, announced Deputy Foreign Minister Mauricio Jaramillo. He explained that the measure stems from concerns about Colombian mercenaries in Ukraine and other international war scenarios, where they have been victims of deception and violence.
The initiative comes after the ambassador of Russia in Colombia, Nikolai Tavdumadze, decried that Ukraine is recruiting mercenaries in Colombia through its diplomatic missions, something that violates the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro emphatically has called mercenarism “a way of robbing a nation” and has advocated for “comprehensive human security” to replace the logic of the “internal enemy.” Jaramillo said that Colombia considers it unacceptable to send its citizens to fight in foreign armies.
Colombia’s concern about mercenarism is not limited to Ukraine. Recently, former Colombian military personnel were reported to be involved in the conflict in Sudan. They were allegedly recruited by a contracting company registered in Bogotá and run by a retired army colonel living in Dubai.
Reports indicate the Colombians travel to the United Arab Emirates and are transferred to Libya to cross the desert into Sudan, where they face ambushes and danger. Colombian deaths have already been reported in Sudan.
The armed conflict in this African country, which began in April 2023, has caused mass displacement of 11 million people and a severe humanitarian crisis.
In mid-2021, Colombian mercenaries in Haiti were also involved in the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse, though they later claimed that they had been framed.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
