Colombia: El nuevo centro mundial de mercenarios, donde las ofertas llegan como en el fútbol.

Yeison Sánchez estaba preparado para enfrentar la muerte cuando emprendió su viaje hacia Ucrania. Este soldado colombiano retirado de 31 años había contratado un seguro de repatriación y advirtió a su familia sobre su posible destino en la guerra contra la invasión rusa. Su principal motivación era el dinero. Había visto videos en TikTok de compatriotas que prometían que, como voluntario del ejército ucraniano, recibiría 19 millones de pesos (alrededor de 4,300 dólares) al mes. Así, logró ahorrar aproximadamente 2,300 dólares para comprar un vuelo de Bogotá a Madrid, otro de allí a Polonia, y finalmente cruzar a Ucrania por tierra para alistarse en un conflicto extranjero.

Like Sánchez, who had worked as a security guard and a nurse over the past decade, the financial stimulus has pushed thousands of Colombians to go fight abroad, in countries like Ukraine or Sudan. Others prefer to work as bodyguards or security guards in the United Arab Emirates or Mexico. Their cases have several elements in common: they are former military personnel who retire at an early age and have little training for any activity other than combat. As veterans, they receive a small retirement salary from the Colombian state, which, by contrast, makes offers to earn up to five times more outside the country more attractive.

In Ukraine, Sánchez didn’t last long. He deserted after six months, partly because the actual pay was far below the $4,300 promised — “I felt cheated” — and partly because he felt mistreated by his superiors. “We were locked up. They would take us out at dawn to do push-ups as punishment for some of our colleagues speaking Spanish to the locals. That was forbidden. I told them we were volunteers, not hostages,” he says. With him, he says, went 40 soldiers from the international legion. Now he is considering various offers, such as going to Mexico to work with the cartels, or “the project” in Africa, “which is making a big splash at the moment.”