Portland winemaker Thomas Monroe found it hard to explain to his 5-year-old son why black smoke was drifting over Puerto Vallarta on Sunday. They could see the plumes from fires in the Mexican city from where they sheltered in place at a friend’s house after the killing of a major drug boss by the Mexican army.
Monroe is among the Portland-area residents who are now stuck in travel limbo in Mexico after airlines canceled or delayed flights from the Jalisco area amid civil unrest following the Sunday killing. Monroe and his family had hoped to come home early, but haven’t been able to secure a quick flight out of the city.
“Our vacation is kind of in a bit of tatters right now,” Monroe said on Monday, adding: “I definitely feel more for the residents and the people who live here full-time who are being impacted.”
The U.S. State Department warned citizens to shelter in place Sunday after the army killed cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Several airlines canceled or scaled back flights, including Alaska Airlines, which canceled more than 40 flights to and from Mexico on Sunday and Monday, including three between Portland and Puerto Vallarta.
The cartel on Sunday set fire to vehicles and erected more than 250 roadblocks in response to Oseguera Cervantes’ death, the Associated Press reported. Several Mexican states canceled school Monday, but some businesses reopened and people began leaving their homes.
Monroe, his wife and his son are visiting friends in Puerto Vallarta. They arrived Friday and had planned to leave Puerto Vallarta on Sunday to visit a small town further north, he said.
Now they are “holed up” in town, trying to sort out what to do next, Monroe said.
Monroe and his family were planning to spend nine days in Mexico, but said after seeing the unrest, they wanted to leave sooner. He reached out to Alaska Airlines and eventually wrangled a waiver to change tickets, but said the earliest he could find a flight out of the country was the day before they were scheduled to leave anyway.
“It’s kind of an odd dichotomy of the beauty and all these parts about this place that I love, but also this kind of hanging black cloud that we’re under,” he said.
Mostly, he said, he worries for his friends and the other Puerto Vallarta residents.
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Teresa and Genaro Torres, from Vancouver, were also visiting Puerto Vallarta when the army killed the cartel leader. They are supposed to fly home on Wednesday and haven’t heard yet if their flight will be affected.
The resort where they’re staying is starting to run out of some food and drink items, they said, but it’s expecting to get deliveries Tuesday.
The Torres family has been fortunate, they said. They’ve seen and met others who had to sleep in hotel lobbies or got stuck sheltering in place without food.
“Clearly we are not suffering, but there’s a sense of anxiety too,” Teresa Torres said. “This is not normal.”
Cartel boss killing in Mexico disrupts travel for Portland-area tourists
