Scott Bates described the Saturday night he arrived in his second home of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as 'normal.'
"I went out with friends and went home," he said.
Waking up Sunday morning, Bates noticed what he initially thought was fog from his house outside of the city center. When he gathered with neighbors on the roof of his building, he soon realized it was actually smoke.
"There were multiple fires to my right in town," he said. "We didn't really find out what was going on until we finally got word that this was all cartel related and the most-wanted cartel leader was taken down Sunday morning and this was the chaos that ensued after."
The drug kingpin known as "El Mencho" and dozens of others were killed early Sunday morning in a Mexican military operation against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. His death then sparked violent demonstrations across Mexico, with cartel members blocking roads and setting cars and businesses on fire.
Bates said he never felt worried, though, despite living near where the Mexican military operation took place. The retired dentist has split his time between Dallas and Puerto Vallarta for more than a decade and said he's familiar with how the cartel operates there.
"I know that the restaurants and business owners and people who are earning money and have large businesses pay money to the cartels," Bates said. "And if you don't pay your fees to the cartel, they will retaliate and maybe kidnap a restaurant manager, things like that, but I've never seen violence on the streets."
In fact, the only unrest Bates personally saw after El Mencho was killed were burnt cars blocking the major entry points to the city.
And the events of the past week have not changed the way he feels about Puerto Vallarta — or the culture of the city.
"They're resilient. They're bruised. There will be some scars, but this town is not broken," Bates said, describing a bustling thoroughfare with shopkeepers cleaning up their storefronts and a coffee shop filled with patrons. "It looks like another day in Puerto Vallarta, except for some charred remains of buildings and where they took away the burnt cars."
Ron Corning is a host at KERA. Got a tip? Email Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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