To the Editor:
What a coincidence, both Martha’s Vineyard and Puerto Vallarta fell under an emergency order to shelter on the same day.
On vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I was oblivious to future events. I dressed for a run on the soccer fields near my Airbnb, but upon arrival, I noticed a car burning in the middle of the road of a major highway into downtown Puerto Vallarta. No traffic or people were around to watch it –– weird? On my run, I heard explosions, and the sky began to darken. Then I heard loud explosions coming from the direction of my return. A group of locals were watching a car burning, and I asked, “Que pasa?” I was told that a cartel chief had been killed and the cartel was “making a statement.”
Around 11 am, it started for real. The sky was turning black, and explosions of the gas tanks of cars everywhere had started. After about an hour, the cartel started bombing the more than 150 convenience stores in P.V., using masked young men on very fast motorcycles.
At 3 pm, the stores were still burning, but no police or fire officials were visible. I was told they were the only people the cartel wanted to kill. And it became eerily quiet for the rest of the day. No cars, no people –– the silence was unreal, and the shops were burning out quietly and alone.
On Monday morning, the world was informed that “El Mencho,” the drug lord kingpin, had been killed by the Mexican military. The quiet prevailed as cleanup of cars and buses started; the stores kept smoldering. All flights had been canceled, no local buses or taxis. Hotels were in lockdown, and stores and restaurants were closed: an international ghost town.
It’s Tuesday, life has begun; people, cars, and flights have resumed. But it’s not the same.
The snow on the Vineyard will melt, spring will arrive, and this will all be a memory. A quite unforgettable one.
Ken Rusczyk
Oak Bluffs