Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima Propaganda Pamphlet Threatens Local Criminals

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

A Cartel Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) propaganda pamphlet threatens local criminals who they accuse of extorting residents in Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato. The message exemplifies a core CSRL propaganda narrative: positioning themselves as protectors of the civilian population against a predatory external threat.

A photograph of the printed pamphlet was posted on a Guanajuato crime news Telegram channel. It is unclear when the message was released. The message states:

TO ALL THE POPULATION OF VALLE DE SANTIAGO:

We are sending this message through this medium because there has been a lot of violence in these past months, and what we want is to pacify.

The municipality is ours, we are people of the señor of Guanajuato, and we are here so that you stop supporting the people of the "choricera" of Rigo. And do not be giving "cuota" to Rodrigo from Rincón de Parangueo, because this Rodrigo is in the Cerezo 1000 prison and from inside he is ordering extortion and kidnappings with another guy from Sinaloa, who is called “El Muletas" all focused on phone call extortion demanding money in the name of the C.S.R.L. They are not us. We disown all abuse towards the population of Valle de Santiago, the kidnappings, the cobro de piso and extortion of market vendors, we reject all forms of extortion and charges in our name.

RODRIGO

RIGO

MULETAS

Get out of here, Valle de Santiago has an owner and we will not let you mess with us, leave Valle de Santiago in peace, (to the people) don’t give monetary support to this pack of hungry dead dogs, we are C.S.R.L. People of Guanajuato. Paper pamphlets are less common than poster narco messages, but are more likely to be used for non-threatening messages to locals, where the criminal intends to win the population's support. They are printed in large batches and distributed or scattered at public venues like markets.

The message contains the CSRL's logo, which is present in the large majority of their propaganda. The logos show a skull and crossed sledgehammers inside a triangle. The skull is wearing a GAFE-style beret.

A Mexican GAFE wearing a uniform beret in parade.

The triangle is a reference to the "triangle of huachicol" a region in central Mexico crisscrossed by Pemex fuel pipelines, from which the CSRL siphon off gasoline to sell. The hammer is a reference to the nickname of the founder of the CSRL, José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, called "El Marro" (the sledgehammer). While El Marro was captured and imprisoned in 2020, the CSRL have continued fighting against the CJNG for the past 8 years, a war which has made Guanajuato the nations most violent state by homicide count.

Image: CSRL logo found on pay stubs after a raid. SWJ

Some elements of the message mimic CJNG narco messaging rhetoric. The assertion that "Valle de Santiago has an owner" mimes the CJNG Grupo Elite line "Guanajuato has an owner", which appears in 83% of CJNG Grupo Elites narco messages. The CSRL likely began copying this phrasing sometime in 2024. The CSRL’s claim that they do not extort locals is entirely false. According to state authorities, the group has been involved in extortion of local businesses for years, especially following the federal government crackdown on fuel theft in Guanajuato state, which was their main income stream. In early March 2026, CSRL cell leader María Guadalupe “N”, alias “La Señora” or “La Lupe” was arrested in Los Pinos, Guanajuato, accused of extortion and being behind the January 2026 massacre of 11 people at a football field in Salamanca. The attack was rumored to be Sources: Telegram Celaya News, Latinus, NYT, Small Wars Journal