Puerto Vallarta rolls out the red carpet for first cruise ship arrival since El Mencho’s death

Just 10 days aft the sidesplitting of cartel brag “El Mencho” plunged Puerto Vallarta into crisis, the Norwegian Bliss cruise vessel arrived astatine the city’s larboard connected Wednesday carrying much than 4,300 passengers — a milestone section officials framed arsenic a motion of the destination’s reactivation.

The decease of Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the longtime person of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), came connected Feb. 22 aft a Mexican subject cognition successful the Jalisco municipality of Tapalpa. The sidesplitting acceptable disconnected a question of violence, with CJNG gunmen torching vehicles and blocking highways crossed much than a twelve states. At Puerto Vallarta International Airport, astatine slightest 137 flights were canceled arsenic airlines including United, Air Canada, Southwest and WestJet suspended oregon diverted operations. According to La Jornada, successful the days that followed respective cruise ships besides skipped the larboard entirely.

The Norwegian Bliss’s accomplishment marks the resumption of cruise postulation to the port. City Economic Manager Juan Pablo Martínez Torres said the ship’s accomplishment demonstrated that Puerto Vallarta “is prepared, is simply a harmless destination, and is acceptable to person thousands of vacationers.” Tourists were greeted with mariachi euphony and what the metropolis described arsenic a festive atmosphere, successful keeping with what officials called the city’s accepted hospitality.

Representatives from ASIPONA Vallarta, Puerto Mágico and Vallarta Adventures were among those contiguous astatine the dock, each voicing assurance successful the destination’s tourism sector.

Security analysts had noted successful the contiguous aftermath of the February unit that portion cartel enactment successful edifice areas is not new, it tends to people revenue-generating infrastructure alternatively than tourists directly. For now, Puerto Vallarta appears to beryllium making the lawsuit that it’s backmost successful concern — 1 cruise vessel astatine a time.

Mexico News Daily

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