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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTony and Cathy Mariani spent the night at Puerto Vallarta\u2019s airport after violence erupted. (Supplied)\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will have some coffee \u2014 maybe some Kahlua and a bloody Mary \u2014 and begin to sort things out.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said they are scheduled to fly home Sunday after WestJet rebooked them on the earliest available flight.<\/p>\n
Mariani was set to begin looking for an available hotel room \u2014 the airline promised to reimburse the cost, he said. He was checking other airlines\u2019 flights to see if seats were available.<\/p>\n
More than 26,000 Canadians in Mexico had registered with Global Affairs Canada as of Monday morning, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told reporters.<\/p>\n
The actual number of Canadians vacationing or living in Mexico is likely much higher, she said.<\/p>\n
Canadians were urged to remain vigilant and follow the advice of local authorities. Anand said Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ram\u00f3n de la Fuente told her the situation is expected to \u201cnormalize\u201d in the coming days.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Mexican authorities said at least 73 people died in the operation and aftermath, the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The federal government ruled out sending rescue flights to Mexico for Canadians who are stranded for at least a few days.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Marianis waited inside the terminal, while the situation deteriorated in and around Puerto Vallarta, a city of nearly 600,000 on Mexico\u2019s Pacific coast, and a winter destination for tens of thousands of Canadians.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s when all of a sudden we heard gunfire,\u201d said Mariani, who hid behind a pillar after five or six gunshots. \u201cPeople were diving and screaming and running. It was like a Hollywood movie in slow motion. It was pretty traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will have some coffee\u2026 maybe some Kahlua and a bloody Mary\u2026 and begin to sort things out.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know where who fired the shots, nor where or why.<\/p>\n Staff eventually moved the Marianis and other travellers into a hallway until it was deemed safe to come out.<\/p>\n Mariani said he called Global Affairs Canada\u2019s emergency phone number from the airport and was advised to shelter in place.<\/p>\n The couple had visited Puerto Vallarta several times before the latest trip.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a lovely place. We\u2019ve loved coming here and, hopefully, we can come back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s when all of a sudden we heard gunfire,\u201d said Mariani, who hid behind a pillar after five or six gunshots. \u201cPeople were diving and screaming and running. It was like a Hollywood movie in slow motion. It was pretty traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know who fired the shots, nor where or why.<\/p>\n Staff eventually moved the Marianis and other travellers into a hallway until it was deemed safe to come out.<\/p>\n Mariani said he called Global Affairs Canada\u2019s emergency phone number from the airport and was advised to shelter in place.<\/p>\n The couple had visited Puerto Vallarta several times before the latest trip.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a lovely place. We\u2019ve loved coming here and, hopefully, we can come back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThings are really calming down,\u201d Kiesman said Monday morning. \u201cWe saw police out in the streets, checking. We\u2019re hearing some restaurants have opened, and some little grocery stores.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n They were at a beach when they heard a \u201chuge bang,\u201d and saw plumes of smoke in the distance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all said, \u2018That sounded like an explosion,\u2019\u201d Kiesman said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Mexican people started telling us, \u2018The cartel is here, the cartel is here.\u2019 You could tell in their manner and their eyes how much the cartel frightens them.\u201d<\/p>\n In a surreal moment, resort staff soon \u201cherded\u201d the couple and other tourists to safety, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have time to take it in. Things were happening so quickly,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Mexican people started telling us, \u2018The cartel is here, the cartel is here.\u2019 You could tell in their manner and their eyes how much the cartel frightens them.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019 safety.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are so protective and so good,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Chris Kitching 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe 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)\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVehicles were set on fire as Lori Kiesman and her husband, Myles Wotton, sheltered in place at a condo complex Sunday. (Supplied)\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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