We’ve never felt unsafe in Mexico before, but we had a few unsettling days on our recent trip to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate our 35th anniversary.
On Sunday, February 22nd, the cartel leader, “El Mencho,” was killed during a military operation in the western state of Jalisco in Mexico. Around 8:30 AM, we were sitting on a balcony enjoying our coffee when we noticed a plume of black smoke rising above the apartment building across from us.
There were several people on their balconies in that building, so we asked if they knew where the smoke was coming from. One man said, “Yeah, there’s a bus on fire on the next street.”
Hmmm… okay. So, why were more people on other balconies staring and pointing in the other direction behind our building?
I told my wife that I was going up to the roof to get a better view of the city and find out what was going on. When I reached the rooftop, two stories above our place, there were a few people already there looking around. I noticed multiple columns of dark smoke rising from the surrounding streets, behind other buildings, and across the entire city in the distance.
“Uh oh,” I said to the man standing next to me. “This is intentional. These fires are no accident.”
No one on the roof knew what was behind the fires, so I went down to the ground floor to talk with the lady behind the front desk in the lobby. When I asked about the fires, she seemed surprised and said, “No se.” She didn’t know.
I returned to our apartment to let my wife know what I had seen, and we began searching global news sites, local sites, and other sources. At this point, I was worried that this might be violence targeting tourists, since it seemed concentrated in our neighborhood, which is a region of the city densely populated with expats and tourists. We could find nothing about it until we came across a few posts on social media (either Reddit or Threads) that said it was the cartel retaliating against the federal government for the death of their leader.
Slowly, the information began trickling through the news outlets. More videos and photos were being shared on social media, too. It was indeed cartel violence, and they were setting vehicles on fire to block the streets and highway in Puerto Vallarta (mostly buses, taxis, and a few other vehicles). They also set fire to several businesses, primarily focusing on OXXO convenience stores. We read that this was also happening all over Jalisco. Guadalajara
From the videos shared and news reports, it was clear the cartel was not targeting civilians. You could see them calmly escorting people out of their vehicles before setting them on fire. Despite the chaos and destruction, no civilians were injured or killed. Sadly, several national guardsmen lost their lives in the military operation and during the violence afterward.
It may seem like a strange response, but I calmed down a lot once I knew it was the cartel retaliating against the federal government. They were not targeting us. Of course, we still felt incredibly worried as we watched fires burning all over the city and new fires springing up nearby. But we knew we should be relatively safe if we stayed inside the building and out of the way of the cartel members.
My 15 mins of fame on the Chicago News (starting around 20:40). 😂
For the next two days, the city was pretty much in lockdown. One strange thing we noticed during this time, when the cartel was actively roaming the streets: there was no police or military presence at all. None. They didn’t show up until it was all over. And show up they did, with a vengeance. 🤣
Police vehicles drove by with lights flashing about every 60 seconds.
Military vehicles with mounted machine guns and loaded with armed soldiers showed up all over the neighborhoods.
Military helicopters flew overhead and circled our building.
So, will we return to Mexico?
Will we feel safe traveling the world now, or are we too traumatized?
⬆️ Scroll up, hit play, and listen to what I think about all of this. Hint: Be smart and be prepared, but don’t be afraid.
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I’m Larry Cornett, Ph.D., an Empowerment Coach who works with ambitious professionals to help them reclaim their power, become more invincible, and create better opportunities for their work and lives. Do more of what you love and less of what you hate! 📕 Check out my Invincible Daily Journals.
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