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Puerto Vallarta Expats Weather Cartel “Temper Tantrum,” Insist Sunny Days Still Ahead
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – For the American and Canadian expats who’ve traded chilly climes for the perpetual sunshine of Puerto Vallarta, a recent weekend of cartel-fueled chaos served as a fiery, if brief, reminder of Mexico’s complex realities. Yet, despite burning buses and menacing gunmen, residents are largely shrugging off the drama, calling it a “performative” display rather than a genuine threat to their peaceful, beachside lives.
The unrest erupted following reports of the death of notorious drug kingpin Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). In what many locals described as a fit of pique, cartel members torched vehicles and businesses, and paraded masked gunmen through the streets of Puerto Vallarta and other parts of Jalisco state.
Charity Palmatier, a 57-year-old who has called the area home for nearly a decade, downplayed the severity of the events. “The cartels like to make statements,” Palmatier told reporters on Tuesday.
“They have temper tantrums when one of their big guys gets captured or killed.” She emphasized that, amidst the destruction of property, “no citizens were injured or killed.”
“It’s not the Wild West down here,” Palmatier asserted. “It’s much more safe than you would think.”
Karen Davis-Farage, who splits her time between “Vallarta” and the bustling metropolises of New York City and Los Angeles, initially felt compelled to book a flight out after a restaurant in her building was set ablaze. She recounted scenes of cartel members on motorcycles, forcing people out of vehicles before igniting them with unknown devices. “You couldn’t count all the plumes that were going on in the air,” she recalled.
However, after assessing the aftermath, Davis-Farage canceled her return flights, confident that the immediate threat had passed. “Everybody is safe and sound,” she affirmed, referring to her friends in the city.
Her decision was echoed by the U.S. State Department, which lifted its shelter-in-place warning for Jalisco on Tuesday.
Mexico is home to an estimated 1.6 million U.S. citizens, with coastal cities like Puerto Vallarta increasingly attracting expats seeking a lower cost of living and a more relaxed pace. Both Palmatier and Davis-Farage were drawn to Vallarta’s colonial charm, stunning beaches, and vibrant arts scene, having first visited during their college years.
Alvaro Orozco, a Houston-based real estate agent specializing in expat clients, confirmed that none of his clients are relocating due to the recent disturbances. He noted that while Sunday’s events were “scary” and “unexpected” for a community typically spared from such violence, they were ultimately a “show of power by the cartel” rather than an indiscriminate attack on residents.
Davis-Farage vividly described the moment the “fog on the water” turned into plumes of black smoke, transporting her back to the anxieties of 9/11. She and other expats in her building gathered on the rooftop, scanning the internet for news as the city burned around them. The fright intensified when a nearby bus exploded, and later, when the restaurant in their own building caught fire.
Despite the close call, Davis-Farage noted a chilling absence of sirens throughout the ordeal. “My reasoning is if [firefighters] had come out to try and put out the fires, they would have been killed by the cartel.”
Palmatier remains unfazed, viewing the events as an intermittent occurrence in Mexico, amplified in attention due to the high-profile target of the cartel’s ire. She believes such violence is “certainly not directed at someone like me.”
Looking ahead, Davis-Farage expressed a hopeful sentiment shared by many in the expat community: “I just hope people don’t stay away from Vallarta because of this.” The message from these sun-seeking residents is clear: a little cartel theatrics won’t deter them from their slice of paradise.