By Roy Wood, Special to the Times Chronicle
An Oliver couple won’t be deterred from their annual winter vacation to Puerto Vallarta despite the recent violence that saw them locked down in their condo while explosions and fires erupted nearby.
In an interview this week from the resort town on Mexico’s west coast, Linda Harris said the way visitors and locals came together during the ordeal gave her “hope for humanity.”
Harris told the Times Chronicle she and husband Marc have been wintering there for six years and intend to continue.
She said that during a walk on Tuesday, “Somebody from the Tourist Board stopped another gentleman and (me) and asked … if we will tell people to stay away? And I said no.”
Harris said she has always felt safe in Puerto Vallarta and that the recent violence was aimed at the Mexican government, not at the tens of thousands of tourists who show up every winter.
For the Harris’, events began to unfold Sunday morning while they were on a fishing charter just off the coast.
“We were maybe not even two kilometres out on the water, and we saw the first plume (of smoke). … We thought, well, maybe they were slash burning … because they are starting to clear fields. And then we saw a second one north (and) was closer to the road,” she said.
When the smoke turned black and more plumes started popping up, they realized something bad was going on. At the same time, Harris said, they were getting text messages about what was happening.
According to news reports, the Mexican military launched an attack early Sunday morning that killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel — one of the country’s largest and most violent criminal organizations.
Immediately following the attack, which also killed an estimated 30 cartel members, cartel fighters and allied groups retaliated against the government with attacks against transportation infrastructure, businesses and other targets.
By about 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Harris said, “These fires (on shore) were just popping up everywhere … and now we heard explosions (that were) big enough (to) travel across Banderas Bay to our boat.
“We saw three private jets head off from the airport, and then we didn’t see any larger commercials. We finally saw one head off … about 11 o’clock in the morning, (but) we didn’t see any commercial jets taking off from the airport or coming in.”
Puerto Vallarta violence – the cartel torched Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) gasoline sta- tions which are fully owned and controlled by the Mexican government.
Linda/Marc Harris photos
As a result of the violence, major airlines cut off service into and out of Puerto Vallarta and several other Mexican airports on Sunday.
By late morning, Harris was getting text messages from friends on shore. One message described, “About 30 motorbikes and 30 young guys, all wearing black. … And all of a sudden, they were stopping the bus system.
“They were giving all the people … an opportunity to get out of the buses. They were not trying to kill anybody, but they were saying, ‘Get out of the bus now,’ and then they were throwing Molotov cocktails into the buses once they set them up to block the roads.”
Initially, the Harrises opted to stay out on the water as the cartel retaliation continued in and around Puerto Vallarta. But in the early afternoon, they got to shore and walked 25 minutes back to their condo, since there were no buses or taxis operating.
As they trudged up the hill, they came across burnt out cars and buses, restaurant employees closing up shop, but very few people out on the usually crowded walkways.
“All of a sudden, we’re just almost at the corner, and my husband, I heard a big bang, and then bam, bam, bam. … I peered around the corner at our local Oxxo (store),” said Harris. “Somebody had just firebombed it and … I guess all the liquor bottles and cans and the windows blew out at one time.”
Once they got back to the condo, “We were in lockdown. As soon as we got in the door, they locked the main gate,” she said.
“The hotels were locking guests down, and people were going about their day. They were in the pool. We were patrolling at night-time. All the residents here took two-hour shifts as couples.”
Through the tension and chaos, Harris says the way that everyone pulled together to get through provided her warm feelings about her fellow humans.
“We, in our building, had two potluck dinners so that people (who) didn’t have food, it didn’t matter. Just come down and eat and drink. And the locals were looking after seniors that they know are on their own are not well. … And people reached out to make sure that these people got food, they got their medication.
Puerto Vallarta violence – the cartel members targeted infrastructure and businesses owned or backed by the government such as the Oxxo convenience store chain as pictured above.
Linda/Marc Harris photos
“It gives you hope for humanity … I’ve never seen individuals as a group pull together to make sure everyone’s looked after.”
The violence had largely subsided by Monday. According to a story in the Mexican Daily Press, the bulk of the cartel-built roadblocks had been removed, and traffic on major roads was back to normal.
The red alert in Puerto Vallarta was lifted on Monday, and by Tuesday, life was returning to normal. Bars and restaurants were re-opening; walkers were repopulating the seaside Malecon boardwalk; sun-lovers were back on the beach; vendor kiosks were again hawking their tourist trinkets; and couples were strolling the Zona Romántica entertainment area.
The federal government continues to warn Canadians travelling to Mexico to be cautious, even as flights to the country were resuming earlier this week.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told journalists Tuesday: “The long and short of it is the situation is becoming more normalized. We should continue to see this trajectory unfolding.
“The situation needs to be closely monitored as we are doing with our consular officials on the ground in Mexico.”
Concerns are now focusing on the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026, which Mexico is co-hosting with Canada and the US in about four months.
FIFA expressed its “complete confidence” that Mexico can host its portion of the event safely.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has stated there is “no risk” for those attending adding “all the guarantees” for safety and security were in place for the world’s top international soccer tournament, which is expected to draw legions of fans from around the world to matches in Mexico City, Monterrey and most notably, the state of Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara.
