Information Warfare Conducted By Armed Groups In Mexico

 "Enojon", "Pernicious Propaganda" and "Char" for Borderland Beat 

Photograph By VendettaTamaul1 on Twitter (Banner placed by 'Los Chapitos' of the Sinaloa Cartel Threatening National Guard personnel)

Cartels have used propaganda for decades to help them achieve their goals. They use messaging to improve and amplify their image among the local populations, disparage and taunt their enemies, and threaten and intimidate the government at all levels. How cartels get the information they want out is as varied as the messages themselves. Here, we will look into how cartels control the information space to win the hearts of locals, put fear into the minds of their enemies, and sow distrust of the government when their goals don’t align. 

Messaging By Hand

The most common and oldest method that cartels have used is narcomantas. These banners made professionally or ad hoc, have been hung from overpasses or laid over corpses. At times the message can be a threat to rivals, accusations of corruption of governmental employees, or justification to the people for actions taken by them. This methodology has become synonymous with narco culture and has seen widespread use by the various cartels in Mexico. It is an extremely effective method of broadcasting messages and authorities typically quickly remove them to prevent their intended use amongst the population. 

In an attempt to make sure attention is given to narcomantas, cartels have been known to alert news publications to their placement, ensuring the message is spread to the local population and rival groups alike. During a post-capture interview Jesús Acosta Guerrero 'El 35,' a leader of the 'La Línea' armed wing of the 'Juarez Cartel,' would detail his role in the placement of narcopintas or graffiti and narcomantas throughout Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and state their intended purpose. A translated excerpt is as follows (Timestamp 1:06 - 2:57) :

Video By Narcotraficoenmexico on YouTube (Post capture interview of Jesús Acosta Guerrero 'El 35')

Interviewer: "In Ciudad Juarez we've seen some handwritten messages appear.

Guerrero: Yes. 

Interviewer: Do you know anything about this? 

Guerrero: Yes. 

Interviewer: Could you tell us? 

Guerrero: I had to put up two [messages].  

Interviewer: So what's the purpose of the message? 

Guerrero: To just scare...to scare [authorities] or to scare the people. 

Interviewer: How do you find where to place the message? 

Guerrero: We'll look for...We'll send a guy, 'El Cholo,' to put up graffiti. I'll tell him to look for wall, a white wall or somewhere that can be written on and he'll be [responsible] for telling me what streets [it's on], [he'll say] "I got one" and I'll just verify if its good or not...Unintelligible.   

Interviewer: Does it have to be a certain location? Along a [specific] street? 

Guerrero: No, all that matters is finding a wall and that news publications find it, we always make an anonymous call [saying] "There's a narcopinta here" so that news publications come close and take photographs. 

Interviewer: What kind of media do you call? 

Guerrero: Well the news publications, the one's that are local. 

Interviewer: Do you remember some of them? 

Guerrero: [Channel] 44, [channel] 32, [channel] 5, the newspapers PM [and] El Diario. 

Interviewer: Why does it [matter] that the media knows where they are? 

Guerrero: So the media can publish them. 

Interviewer: What would be the point? 

Guerrero: So the whole world can notice it, so all the federal [authorities] notice it or the...Or the entity that's being threatened. 

Messages From The Sky

Planes trafficking narcotics are commonly associated with cartels. However, we have seen multiple instances of small light aircrafts being used to drop flyers over population centers to send a message. This grand spectacle of a plane flying and dropping pieces of paper from the sky with a script for its intended recipient tends to cause an increase in intrigue. This particular method has a way (intended or not) of amplifying the information they are trying to get across. This synergistic effect coupled with its rarity compared to other methods means that it can be one of the most intriguing, and thus effective, forms of information dispersion.

The first recorded instance of this distribution method took place on May 29th, 2012 when an unidentified group threw flyers from a plane over Guamúchil and Culiacán, Sinaloa claiming that Mario López Valdez ‘Malova,’ the former Governor of Sinaloa, allegedly ensured that Javier Avilés Araujo ‘El Árabe’ or ‘El Gordo Avilés,’ a member of the ‘Beltrán Leyva Organization,’ (BLO) would remain imprisoned within Sinaloa so he may be tortured and murdered under the orders of Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera ‘El Chapo’. 

Photograph By Riodoce (Flyer alleging a link between Governor Valdez and Guzman) 

A translation is as follows: 

“The Governor, under the orders of ‘Chapo Guzman,’ ordered the delegate of the [Attorney General’s Office] to consign Javier Avilés Araujo to torture and kill him inside the State Penitentiary, as you never could do it while he was free! We find Governor Mario López Valdez responsible for the life of Avilés Araujo and the days he remained alive in the prison to be tortured! 

If there was a crime, why not send him to Mexico City or another prison where Chapo Guzman and Mario López Valdez do not have control or can give orders? We all have a place where it hurts and sooner or later it will pay, come up in front [and fight] like men, not killing those tied up as El Chapo Guzman does, without the help of Malova we would have finished all your men already!” 

Araujo, identified as the alleged son of Pedro Avilés Pérez ‘El León de la Sierra,’ was arrested by Ministerial Police Officers on May 25th, 2012 in Guasave, Sinaloa who seized 57 packets of methamphetamine and a .38 caliber handgun during the incident. After the arrest, Araujo was handed over to the Attorney General’s Office and later held within the Aguaruto Prison in Culiacan, where on May 27th he was attacked by inmates in a cell and decapitated. 

Similar aerial disbursements would occur in the following years but after violence flared between the rival ‘La Mayiza’ and ‘Los Chapitos’ CDS factions on September 9th, 2024 we’d see an uptick in their use. Particularly by the La Mayiza faction who would produce flyers urging the local population to provide information on individuals they deem to be targets such as Rubén Rocha Moya, the Governor of Sinaloa, Oscar Noel Medina Gonzalez ‘El Panu,’ Head of security for Los Chapitos, Marcos Eduardo Castro Cárdenas ‘Markitos Toys,’ Influencer and alleged associate of ‘El Nini,’ and many others. 

Recorded Information

The cartel's attempts at disseminating information would develop into videos of various styles in the early 2000s with the intended effect of running a public relations campaign to fight the informational side of the narco-conflict in Mexico. Such recordings would typically consist of masked members threatening rival groups, proclaiming alleged links between armed groups and state entities, or interrogating rival members and capturing their executions as a show of force. 

Over time the messaging used by groups would evolve into maintaining a somewhat positive image. For instance, they would claim their infiltration of strategic regions has been done to "cleanse" them of rival groups and criminals. Sometimes they will distance themselves from incidents and place blame on other cartels, not out of any sense of justice, but rather to avoid being on the receiving end of security operations. 

With any such messaging, it's imperative to be cautious of what is being broadcasted. These propaganda campaigns are carried out solely to benefit the criminal organizations and their respective leaders, rather than aiding the people they repeatedly claim to "fight for". 

On July 20th, 2022 during the National Morning Conference, Rodolfo Montes (an Independent Journalist) called out to the former President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, claiming he had to flee Quintana Roo after receiving threats on July 8th by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Montes stated he intended to file a report with the Attorney General's Office after his daughter fled the country, and that the threat presented itself as belonging to CJNG but believes a public servant may be involved. 

In an interview with Reporter Azucena Uresti, Montes stated he had received a death threat over the phone from a figure who self-identified as a regional CJNG leader in Mexico City and would correctly identify the clothing worn by Monte's daughter at the time. Although doubting the threat, Montes would ask if Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes 'El Mencho’, the leader of CJNG, had indeed placed a bounty on his head and to let him know in any way possible. 

A video communication would circulate through social media on July 24th, 2022 where CJNG would attempt to distance themselves from the threats made against Montes. CJNG claimed he "doesn't have anything to worry about" from the criminal organization while alleging they do not interfere with the media. They added that they do not target women, children, or the innocent. However, this is far from the truth, as the cartel had previously threatened Uresti during a separate video communication in August 2021 where they again claimed not to be against the media, but urged Uresti and the news publication Milenio to not favor 'Carteles Unidos' (CU) and to not "attack" CJNG. 

Online Propaganda 

The advent of social media as a way of sharing information worldwide has been well documented, and Mexico is no different in this regard. Cartels have taken to utilizing social media to dispatch their information. The narcosphere touches almost every social media platform that is currently popular today. Sicarios will upload photos showing off their weapons, drugs, and equipment. A cartel member will share the corpses and destroyed equipment in a video with corridos playing in the background. Encouraging voice messages from their leaders are shared over private groups to increase morale. Cartel members and their admirers can be found arguing “the truth” with supporters of other groups in replies on X. Social media has become integral to cartels and their members, recognizing this importance and the dependency these groups have on social media to broadcast this propaganda is also recognizing the new war, the “information war”.

For example, the belief that cartels “do not target innocent people” was propagated by cartels to create campaigns that would result in a false sense of security in the general public, when the reality is that the violence will, directly and indirectly, affect everyone in regions targeted by criminal organizations, as a bullet does not differentiate between the “innocent” and cartel members. 

In recent years there's also been an emergence of social media accounts that have operated as mouthpieces for various cartels. These accounts may simply be affiliated with or directly run by the criminal organization, but both act to disseminate information to the general public. This has been seen with 'Los Mata Salaz,' 'Nuevo Cartel de Juarez,' 'Carteles Unidos,' CJNG, and many others.

To effectively combat the narco-conflict further efforts need to be made against the propaganda campaigns. Cartels regularly maintain these campaigns making them an effective tool that will continue to develop alongside on-the-ground forces to advance their reach and power within Mexico and internationally. 

Sources: Hyperlinked In Text

Categories: Cartel de Juarez, cartel de sinaloa, carteles unidos, CDS, Char, CJNG, Enojon, Jalisco Cartel New Generation, Jalisco Nueva Generación, la linea, Narco communication, Narco message, Narcomanta, propaganda