Tony and Cathy Mariani ducked for safety when gunshots echoed inside Puerto Vallarta’s airport Sunday amid a wave of violence after Mexican special forces killed a notorious drug cartel leader elsewhere in the western province of Jalisco.
The Winnipeg couple was among thousands of Canadians who were stranded by the turmoil, which led to the airport being locked down, flights cancelled and tourists ordered to shelter in place in some destinations.
“We don’t know who, what, where and why right now, but we do know we can’t sit here until Sunday,” Tony Mariani said from the airport Monday morning, after the couple slept in a lounge overnight.
Tony and Cathy Mariani spent the night at Puerto Vallarta’s airport after violence erupted. (Supplied)
“We will have some coffee — maybe some Kahlua and a bloody Mary — and begin to sort things out.”
He said they are scheduled to fly home Sunday after WestJet rebooked them on the earliest available flight.
Mariani was set to begin looking for an available hotel room — the airline promised to reimburse the cost, he said. He was checking other airlines’ flights to see if seats were available.
More than 26,000 Canadians in Mexico had registered with Global Affairs Canada as of Monday morning, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told reporters.
The actual number of Canadians vacationing or living in Mexico is likely much higher, she said.
Canadians were urged to remain vigilant and follow the advice of local authorities. Anand said Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente told her the situation is expected to “normalize” in the coming days.
The wave of retaliatory violence, including shootouts and car and bus fires in the province erupted after the Mexican army killed Nemesio (El Mencho) Oseguera Cervantes, 59, who led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, during a U.S.-backed attempt to capture him in Talpalpa, about 300 kilometres southeast of Puerto Vallarta.
Mexican authorities said at least 73 people died in the operation and aftermath, the Associated Press reported.
The wave of retaliatory violence, including shootouts and car and bus fires in the province erupted after the Mexican army killed Nemesio (El Mencho) Oseguera Cervantes who led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. (Supplied)
The federal government ruled out sending rescue flights to Mexico for Canadians who are stranded for at least a few days.
The Marianis were scheduled to fly to Winnipeg Sunday after a three-week vacation. Tony Mariani said they were loading their luggage into an Uber vehicle outside a condominium complex when they noticed federal police officers driving down the road behind a motorbike.
The motorbike crashed and the occupants ran through the condo complex. Unaware of the chaos that was unfolding, the couple saw plumes of black smoke on the way to the airport.
The Marianis waited inside the terminal, while the situation deteriorated in and around Puerto Vallarta, a city of nearly 600,000 on Mexico’s Pacific coast, and a winter destination for tens of thousands of Canadians.
“That’s when all of a sudden we heard gunfire,” said Mariani, who hid behind a pillar after five or six gunshots. “People were diving and screaming and running. It was like a Hollywood movie in slow motion. It was pretty traumatic.”
“We will have some coffee… maybe some Kahlua and a bloody Mary… and begin to sort things out.”
He didn’t know where who fired the shots, nor where or why.
Staff eventually moved the Marianis and other travellers into a hallway until it was deemed safe to come out.
Mariani said he called Global Affairs Canada’s emergency phone number from the airport and was advised to shelter in place.
The couple had visited Puerto Vallarta several times before the latest trip.
“This is a lovely place. We’ve loved coming here and, hopefully, we can come back,” he said.
“That’s when all of a sudden we heard gunfire,” said Mariani, who hid behind a pillar after five or six gunshots. “People were diving and screaming and running. It was like a Hollywood movie in slow motion. It was pretty traumatic.”
He didn’t know who fired the shots, nor where or why.
Staff eventually moved the Marianis and other travellers into a hallway until it was deemed safe to come out.
Mariani said he called Global Affairs Canada’s emergency phone number from the airport and was advised to shelter in place.
The couple had visited Puerto Vallarta several times before the latest trip.
“This is a lovely place. We’ve loved coming here and, hopefully, we can come back,” he said.
Vehicles were set on fire as Lori Kiesman and her husband, Myles Wotton, sheltered in place at a condo complex Sunday. (Supplied)
Lori Kiesman and her husband Myles Wotton, from Rivers, were sheltering in place at a condo complex in the coastal fishing village of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, about 20 kilometres from Puerto Vallarta.
“Things are really calming down,” Kiesman said Monday morning. “We saw police out in the streets, checking. We’re hearing some restaurants have opened, and some little grocery stores.”
The calm was in stark contrast to events 24 hours earlier, when vehicles were set on fire near the condo Kiesman and Wotton were renting.
They were at a beach when they heard a “huge bang,” and saw plumes of smoke in the distance.
“We all said, ‘That sounded like an explosion,’” Kiesman said.
“The Mexican people started telling us, ‘The cartel is here, the cartel is here.’ You could tell in their manner and their eyes how much the cartel frightens them.”
In a surreal moment, resort staff soon “herded” the couple and other tourists to safety, she said.
“We didn’t have time to take it in. Things were happening so quickly,” she said. “The Mexican people started telling us, ‘The cartel is here, the cartel is here.’ You could tell in their manner and their eyes how much the cartel frightens them.”
The couple is scheduled to return home Saturday after a month-long vacation. Kiesman praised local residents and staff who are taking care of tourists while worrying about their loved ones’ safety.
“They are so protective and so good,” she said.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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