Beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Bucerias and so many other lovely places I visited with Erin Davis in January. All torn up because of retaliatory violence. It began with the death of a cartel leader at the hands (or the guns) of military police.
It’s no secret that cartels really run that country. This is why police officers routinely patrol with their faces covered. But as long as nobody makes waves, tourism is almost sacred and largely left alone. You just don’t want to veer too far from tourism destinations on your own.
Looking at the map of Mexico it’s clear that Cancun and the Mayan Riviera are safe from the Jalisco violence. It reminds me of looking at a map of Poland. Russia had launched a drone over the border into Poland, where I’m going in a few weeks. But the border is more than 800 km away from where I’ll be. There are never guarantees, of course, but it doesn’t worry me.
I’m going to hand the rest of this post over to Erin Davis, who is still in Nuevo Vallarta. As I write this, a shelter-in-place order is still in effect. The airport is still closed. Canadian airlines have canceled all flights and some turned around mid-air when the violence broke out. Gunfire. Exploding cars. They burned PV’s Costco among other places. For a first-hand account of what it’s like there, read on at this link: Erin Davis’ Journal.