Puerto Vallarta is supposed to be the “normal” version of Mexico: resorts, families, flights in and out, a place that feels buffered from cartel violence.

And then, in a single morning, you get a U.S. Embassy alert telling Americans to shelter in place, taxi/rideshare suspended, public transportation paused, burning vehicles on roads, and flights canceled or diverted.

That kind of snap-disruption usually isn’t about “random crime.” It’s what happens when a state move hits a high-value target and the response is designed to make the state, and everyone watching, pay the cost in the most public way possible.

The pattern is simple: retaliation doesn’t need to “win a battle.” It needs to seize the chokepoints civilians depend on.

Roads become barricades. Smoke becomes messaging. Airports become leverage. A tourist economy becomes an amplifier.

So the takeaway isn’t “Mexico is unsafe” in the abstract. The takeaway is more specific: when cartel–state conflict spikes, civilian infrastructure is the pressure point, even in resort cities built to feel insulated. 

If you want to understand risk here, what matters more: general crime stats, or how often enforcement operations trigger immediate disruption of mobility (roads + airport) in the same region?