Juno News - Canadian STRANDED in Puerto Vallarta SPEAKS OUT

00:00:00.000 well the violence continues across mexico as members of a notorious drug cartel attack police

00:00:10.440 and civilian targets in retaliation for the killing of a drug lord on the weekend

00:00:15.360 an estimated 26 000 canadians are in mexico some of them are trying to leave the country but can't

00:00:21.780 the jalisco new generation cartel one of the most powerful and feared criminal organizations in

00:00:28.680 mexico have unleashed a wave of attacks across 20 mexican states they have forged businesses and set 0.99

00:00:35.900 up blockades all of this followed the government's killing of a notorious drug lord best known as

00:00:42.380 el mencho who died in custody sunday shortly after being captured by mexican special forces

00:00:49.180 joining us is independent journalist in puerto vallarta dan dix welcome dan hey guys thank you

00:00:56.500 so much for having me it's greatly appreciated well we appreciate what you're doing there

00:01:01.000 terrific work can you tell us what the mood is right now uh things are relatively more calm than they

00:01:09.020 were yesterday certainly uh it was very intense yesterday uh the moment i stepped foot outside

00:01:15.100 i noticed the smoke billowing all over the place um cars set on fire left right and center buses

00:01:22.440 motorcycles um they had set a costco on fire there was a uh an oxo it's like their convenience store

00:01:31.240 which was on fire grocery stores were on fire a gas station was on fire it was just it it was

00:01:38.180 absolutely insane around here um and uh logistics were incredibly difficult to get around roads were

00:01:45.440 closed uh cartel were apparently going around with uh backhoes digging up the roads just making it 1.00

00:01:52.940 nearly impossible to uh to get around the scene has changed now things are a little bit more calm

00:01:59.180 i believe they are starting to open up the roads uh allowing cars like taxis and ubers to uh start to

00:02:05.740 travel again airports are starting to come back around of course yesterday guadalajara was shut down

00:02:11.580 and attacked uh the puerto vallarta airport was having a lot of major issues um but things are

00:02:18.240 slowly but surely starting to get back on track here i'm at a hotel where the the lineup is going

00:02:25.480 out the door hundreds of people lined up trying to rebook because all of our flights have been

00:02:30.740 canceled including mine and i still have no word yet from uh from my my airline on when i may be able

00:02:37.860 to return home so it's anyone's guess at this point when this thing is going to officially be

00:02:42.660 over well i'm glad that things are better now we are hearing some reports dan that americans are

00:02:49.580 being targeted probably because americans played a role in the raid that apprehended this individual

00:02:56.380 el mencho and presumably led to his death what are you hearing about possible targets against

00:03:03.420 citizens in retribution and retaliation for what happened on the weekend well i heard a warning

00:03:08.980 that the cartel was suggesting they may come into private homes and potentially even hotels and uh

00:03:16.280 much like this one um talks of you know cutting the power we're going around and when i stepped foot

00:03:22.980 outside of this hotel yesterday just to investigate the scene i walked out to the road and immediately

00:03:28.940 was i came across just a very eerie sight absolutely nobody was out there zero people zero cars except

00:03:37.600 for a couple burning smoldering hot cars so when i went out there to do a video report um i uh began

00:03:45.800 filming and the only car i saw it was a pickup truck full of about eight or nine guys with huge machine

00:03:53.300 guns and black ski masks and camo gear and they pulled right up beside me and slowed right down

00:03:59.780 and i gotta say my heart was pounding a few times for a good 10 or 15 seconds there because i didn't

00:04:06.180 know if this was the the mexican military or if this was in fact the cartel dressing up look to look

00:04:12.880 like the military and either way if it was the cartel that would have been bad news and if it was the

00:04:18.260 military well they're the target of the cartel so uh it was pretty scary knowing i probably look

00:04:25.080 american uh just being a a little independent canadian reporter sitting out there on the street

00:04:31.080 by myself so i was nervous that i might have been targeted for a second there but thankfully they

00:04:36.900 continued to drive on i managed to get my report out and uh and and yeah i i think the scene is changing

00:04:44.140 out there a little bit but it was pretty scary even for just guys like me trying to cover this

00:04:48.820 yeah well you're doing some courageous work being out there putting your life on the line in order to

00:04:54.480 bring the story to the people and uh it's very much appreciated but you also raised the issue of

00:05:00.380 hard to know the good guys from the bad guys when you're out and about because of course cartel members

00:05:05.700 dress the same way as the military people so you really don't know what you're looking at

00:05:10.620 they're extremely well equipped and armed aren't they they really are i mean from what i'm seeing

00:05:17.000 some of them have tanks um i've heard uh that in the past when these sorts of things have happened

00:05:23.500 before um they have shot at military helicopters with rocket launchers these guys literally have access

00:05:31.380 to things like rocket launchers and tanks and uh you know they're they're essentially rolling around

00:05:37.960 uh like like the military you know so again yeah it does become difficult at some point to try to figure out

00:05:45.400 who's who um but uh at at this stage it's tough to say if this is going to continue to escalate to

00:05:53.080 you know a military intervention or anything like that but um i've certainly got my guard up because we

00:05:58.840 don't know where this is going to go from here um but uh i'll i'll be here for the next you know few days

00:06:04.920 maybe longer it's tough to say maybe a day maybe two maybe a week uh we don't know but we'd love to

00:06:10.600 check in with you in the future if that's all right with you i know you're very busy but just to see how

00:06:16.840 you're doing now uh in terms of canada's official reaction there was the first uh anita non came out

00:06:24.200 basically said well shelter in place uh it struck me that their response was a little slow what's your take

00:06:31.400 on what canada has been doing up to this point in terms of trying to deal with this i haven't heard

00:06:37.320 uh uh anon's response i've uh i've been kind of busy just uh figuring out the logistics of of booking

00:06:46.280 this hotel and i've been doing a number of interviews but you know i i i'm not surprised

00:06:51.320 really if uh if canada is going to kind of drop the ball on this one i figured maybe i should contact

00:06:56.200 the canadian consulate you know while i'm here in puerto vallarta and ask them straight up you know

00:07:01.400 do you guys have a plan for something like this are you prepared do you even know what to do if a

00:07:07.080 canadian is in a situation like this and i would almost suspect that uh they are probably being

00:07:12.280 bombarded right now uh with uh stranded canadians who are are seeking their help and may they may be

00:07:19.000 having a rather large backlog right now so uh you know i i'm not overly surprised if they're going to

00:07:25.800 uh be a little slow to to react or just say look over here nothing to see there um it's kind of uh

00:07:32.680 their modus operandi with these kinds of situations sometimes i'm sure you've been speaking to other

00:07:39.160 tourists canadians what are they telling you about what they're going through well it's interesting here

00:07:44.760 hearing the tourists like uh at this particular hotel i mean uh i was waiting in line for a number

00:07:51.560 of hours just to rebook this room that i'm in and i could hear all the conversations going on all around

00:07:57.080 me uh one gentleman was saying that his delta flight uh has informed him that there's absolutely nothing

00:08:03.800 going out until saturday and today is monday so that's quite the extension on his stay other people

00:08:11.160 were told to uh by the hotel to try contacting third party services like uh expedia or all these

00:08:21.800 other companies that do this sorts of booking and the people have done that and they found out that

00:08:27.160 everything is sold out because i think there's a lot of backlog of people who were supposed to fly

00:08:32.760 yesterday who are now you know being pushed up to the front so uh this it's a logistical nightmare

00:08:39.160 right now and uh people here are just kind of forced to hunker down we're we're essentially on

00:08:44.280 lockdown in this hotel uh they they are suggesting very strongly at the front at the concierge to not in

00:08:51.480 not step outside whatsoever and even if you do go outside there's really no point because all the

00:08:57.320 stores around here are completely closed everything is still shut down i'm sure maybe by tomorrow they'll

00:09:03.320 start reopening as the roads begin begin to get a little bit more accessible but uh as for now it

00:09:10.200 looks like there's hundreds of tourists in this hotel and probably all the ones around around me uh

00:09:15.720 who are just hunkering down for the next few days uh staying in their rooms and staying very close to

00:09:21.800 the resort itself um because that's pretty much the only option uh that we have at this stage i'm just

00:09:29.320 wondering about supplies i mean if supply lines are blocked for instance trucks can't get in and out of

00:09:35.320 the city or to the hotel where you're staying i mean is there a danger that some of the food supplies

00:09:43.320 and other essentials to come into short supply is there a risk of that i think there absolutely is a

00:09:51.000 risk of that that's something people have to be prepared for and have to be thinking about

00:09:55.320 um i i certainly have you know i've i've got my uh my my poor mom god love her is is terrified 1.00

00:10:03.320 watching this you know and and she keeps calling me saying go go stock up your hotel room with food

00:10:09.080 go get bottles of water and and stock up because you never know when they're gonna run out and

00:10:13.480 they could run out any time now and i would imagine that's what a lot of the people here are

00:10:18.200 beginning to realize as well so uh hopefully they get the uh the the road situation figured out

00:10:25.080 which i think is is you know kind of being worked on as we speak um and so i i really hope that by

00:10:32.200 tomorrow things will be getting a little bit more back to normal here but you know things might never

00:10:37.560 get back to normal in mexico when you have an event to this extent uh the powers that ought not be as i

00:10:43.880 like to call them will use an event like this to gain order out of chaos they have this down to a science

00:10:50.120 it's like problem reaction solution scenario where you have a problem you generate this reaction from

00:10:55.800 the people which is often please do something about this for us and then you offer the solution to

00:11:01.320 that problem which is something that advances your agenda like digital ids like the more surveillance

00:11:09.400 cameras going up left right and center and all these sorts of things may be in the very near future

00:11:15.640 for mexicans here as the government figures out how to deal with this current situation and i think

00:11:21.960 that's what they might implement on people very very soon so um this came as a shocking rude awakening

00:11:28.200 for people and they may soon realize that it's not necessarily going to get better when the big brother

00:11:34.280 orwellian surveillance state shows its ugly face here in mexico soon true enough as it has in other countries

00:11:41.080 like the uk but let's talk a little bit about what your expectations and hopes are that the government

00:11:47.240 of canada does i mean would you like to see an airlift uh a government airlift of of people staying

00:11:53.480 there i mean there are thousands of you but i'm talking about people who aren't you know particularly

00:11:59.320 hard-get communities is that a possibility that the government will be coming the cavalry will be coming

00:12:06.360 you know i i i i highly doubt that um it it would be nice but canadian so-called humanitarian uh

00:12:15.720 missions are are often not actually to benefit the canadian people but more so to to to benefit the

00:12:23.480 the system in some way shape or form um so i i really don't think we're going to see something like

00:12:28.600 that and and that really speaks to the the the fact that you you need to build a community you need to

00:12:35.480 network with like-minded people thankfully you know i was here for the last five days working

00:12:40.600 at a conference um building connections meeting people in puerto vallarta who are like-minded

00:12:46.760 individuals and i've already made a great deal of friends here where if things really go awry i've

00:12:53.720 already have some some contacts and and locals in the area who i've made friends with uh who could

00:12:59.240 probably help me out of scary situations and that's what we need to focus on moving forward we we can't

00:13:06.200 look can't keep looking to the government to help solve us save us from the problems that are created

00:13:11.960 by the government essentially because let's face it these drug cartels are often in bed with the

00:13:17.640 government you look at the cia drug running uh back in the clinton era like this is time and time again

00:13:23.480 we find out after the fact that that's what's going on so we can't rely on them anymore we have to rely

00:13:28.440 on ourselves and we have to build communities with one another so that we can um help each other when

00:13:35.160 the time comes i've heard uh as we wrap things up i've heard no word of casualties i don't know if you

00:13:41.320 have people injured whether people are at the hospital that sort of thing i am hearing that some

00:13:51.480 senators for instance excuse me are saying that if any americans are killed uh then that you know

00:13:59.880 there could end up retaliation by the u.s military is a possibility and that means soldiers i mean that

00:14:06.200 so things could get worse before they get better although i take your point that things appear to be

00:14:10.360 getting better any of that factor into your thinking right now well you know i just spent a few days

00:14:17.720 speaking at a conference and meeting all kinds of wonderful people and there was a a an aussie a

00:14:23.800 couple from australia who i met and i just found out uh recently yesterday that uh there was some

00:14:31.720 australians who left the conference they got in their taxi cab and they witnessed they they they were

00:14:38.600 captured by the cartel and the taxi driver was killed murdered right in front of them uh and then

00:14:44.840 the car was set on fire and their luggage was burnt and their passports were in there and they

00:14:51.560 lost everything in this fire thankfully they survived but uh all i know is that it was an australian

00:14:58.600 couple who were attendees of the conference who got caught up in this and i met some australian

00:15:04.120 people who were attendees at the conference and i i really hope it's not the fine folks that i met but

00:15:09.160 either way some people's lives have been completely flipped turned right upside down uh people are

00:15:15.800 dead um there's you know we we have to pray for the people of puerto vallarta because there are victims

00:15:22.600 family members of victims right now uh who are who are suffering unimaginable loss and um that's

00:15:30.040 something we have to remember uh moving forward on this that uh yeah some some really bad things did go on

00:15:35.400 here and uh i just hope it gets much much better from here on in you're doing fantastic work how do

00:15:42.600 people find your work online well i post to a number of platforms uh ever since i've been banned from

00:15:48.760 youtube and then reinstated and then taken down again and then reinstated so you can find me on my

00:15:54.280 rumble channel or bit shoot or odyssey or minds or hive or band i'm on nine or ten different platforms but

00:16:01.800 the best way to find them all is just to go to pressfortruth.ca that's my website or you can go

00:16:07.800 to pressfortruth.ca slash subscribe and there will be a list of all the different platforms uh that i

00:16:13.960 post on i've been sharing a lot of up-to-date stuff uh first on x x.com slash x.com slash dan dix pft

00:16:23.880 that's where most things go first but uh if you want to get it elsewhere you can go to pressfortruth.ca

00:16:31.000 pressfortruth.ca dan uh take care of yourself be careful we'd like to have you back on yeah we'll

00:16:38.360 do thanks again for having me thank you thank you if you enjoyed this show consider supporting great

00:16:45.160 independent journalism where breaking news stories are told by going to junonews.com backslash straight

00:16:52.760 up that's the name of this show straight up junonews.com backslash straight up that was a great deal

00:16:58.680 thank you we'll see you next time

Juno News - February 23, 2026

Canadian STRANDED in Puerto Vallarta SPEAKS OUT

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