A new breed of veterans from Latin America and Asia patrols front lines for a salary, idealism or the thrill of combat
Soldiers-of-fortune are back in force—manning Ukraine’s front lines, filling Gulf monarchies’ barracks and fighting Africa’s civil wars. Colombia, racked by decades of conflict, is a top source of hired guns.Jhonny Pinilla had battled guerrillas in his country’s jungles for a decade. But the frenzied, close-quarter combat that he experienced there seemed like a vacation compared with his panicked escapes from Russian artillery fire after he volunteered to join the Ukrainian army.
“I had no idea if I was going to live or die,” recalled the 40-year-old.
Add to that not just a foreign language but a strange alphabet, and subzero temperatures replacing his accustomed tropical heat. Yet Pinilla sees no alternative to a life of combat. “War is the only trade I know,” he said while resting in another country.
Fighters such as Pinilla are part of a burgeoning market for veterans from poorer countries chasing a paycheck. These days, it is truly combat pay. Most war dogs cut their teeth in low-intensity or sporadic fights, such as chasing drug runners and human traffickers.
Battles in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa, in contrast, now rage with lethality not seen for decades. Colombian fighters hired last year by intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates have died fighting for rebel forces against the Sudanese government.
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