Creston woman amazed by resilience of Puerto Vallarta

When Michelle Hanson of Creston arrived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Saturday, Feb. 21, she didn’t realize she’d pay witness to cartel violence broadcasted worldwide.

On Sunday, they saw something alarming.

“As we’re just kind of having a relaxing morning, thick, thick smoke started to come from the city center,” Hanson recounted. “And it was just black, I mean, it’s so black.”

With the bay right to the back of the house, Hanson and her friend Pat Brown were able to see the smoke start to blot out the sunshine.

“Shortly after that, our houseman called and said, ‘Don’t leave the house. Everything is shut down. The governor of Jalisco has said to shelter in place,’” Hanson said.

The unrest came as a result of the Mexican army killing the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel.

The cartel, CJNG, reacted violently, burning out cars to block roads at more than 250 points in 20 Mexican states.

Hanson received word from that the U.S. embassy was requesting all U.S. citizens to stay low and be wise, so that’s what they did.

The home Hanson stayed at has a full staff. On Monday, the houseman came to check on them, sharing an eerie story of his own.

“He told us that the cartel tends to have spotters on motorcycles,” she said. “He said two of them were on a motorcycle when he was out walking his dog Sunday morning. The guy stopped and looked at him, picked up his — they have full face helmets — picked up his visor and told him, ‘go home now.’ So they were obviously not out to hurt people. I mean, I think that was loud and clear. They could have taken him out right there. They were about to do something."

In Guadalajara, burning vehicles blocked roads and businesses shuttered just months before Mexico’s second-largest city is scheduled to host matches during this summer’s soccer World Cup.

“I know Guadalajara got hit a little harder than we did, I think because they really wanted to make an imprint there. I think because the World Cup is going to be played there,” Hanson said. “But even there, I mean, they hit a couple of electrical grids, put them out for a while, but still nothing ... It was more to just tell people they were pissed off. They were really trying more than anything to cripple the economy, to make people not come, to make it hard on the people.”

As news and videos quickly spread about the smoke pouring over one of Mexico’s biggest tourist cities, it became one of the world’s top headlines. An image of smoke billowing out from a Costco was one of the most defining images of the unrest.

When Hanson finally returned back to the U.S., she was most shocked by the news coverage.

“What was amazing to me is how they blew it so far out of proportion,” she said. “The whole scene where they said Costco was on fire. It never burned. It was just the vehicles in front and a couple of reefer trailers in the back. Yeah, there wasn’t a lot of damage, honestly. When I drove back through the town to go to the airport, everything was back to normal.”

By Tuesday, Hanson said the house staff were back to work with no difficulties. By the end of the week, buses and taxis were running. It was as it nothing had happened.

“You have to remember, these people are incredibly resilient,” Hanson said. “I mean, they have had hurricanes that have come through and devastated parts of it. And by the end of that week, you wouldn’t see any sign of it. They’re just incredible. All of them come together. They all work together and they get it done. Why? Because their livelihood is tourism.”

While the unrest was certainly startling to civilians, particularly Americans, Hanson wants people to know it is safe to travel to Mexico.

“They’re very welcoming,” she said. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Puerto Vallarta. They were shaken, but they were also incredibly encouraged by their own military, getting in there and keeping them safe and basically taking the fight to the mountains. So would I go back? Absolutely.”