'Not a lot we can do,' says Alta. family sheltering at resort amid violence in western Mexico

An Edmonton-area family on vacation in western Mexico said they still felt safe Friday morning, although violence in the surrounding region was skewing the certainty of their future plans. 

"It's really scary to know it's in your backyard but at the same time, there's not a lot we can do," Sherwood Park resident Sandra Forscutt told CTV News Edmonton in a Zoom interview, sitting on her balcony at the Hotel Riu Emerald Bay northwest of Mazatlán. 

The city is one of four where Canadian government officials say widespread violence has broken out since security forces captured alleged drug trafficker Ovidio "The Mouse" Guzman, son of former cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Amid attacks on vehicles, fire exchanges, and threats to essential infrastructure like airports, Canadians in the Sinaloa State were told to shelter in place. 

• Canadian government tells travellers in western Mexico to shelter in place due to violence
• Violence hits Mexico cartel stronghold as 'Chapo' son nabbed

"Yeah, we can't get off the resort, but it's safer that we don't so we just make do with being on the resort. Which is not a bad problem to have," Forscutt commented. 

"The staff are really good at engaging the kids… and keeping everything as normal as they possibly can." 

'STILL QUIET'

Amber Milligan, an Edmontonian who runs a board game café in Mazatlán, called the outbreak of violence on Thursday initially alarming.

Her family moved to the city of about 500,000 in late 2021 and so they had not seen the violence that erupted after Guzmán's capture in 2019.

But one of their employees had and told Milligan she wouldn't be coming into work that day.

As the rest of the city followed suit, Milligan closed her business.

"I was a little bit worried. But knowing that it was almost three hours away, again, it was more just a preemptive measure to make sure that we kept our staff safe," she told CTV News Edmonton.

Amber Milligan talks to CTV News Edmonton on Jan. 6, 2023, after the capture of Ovidio "The Mouse" Guzman, son of former cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán.

She said her concerns – and, seemingly, those of other locals – have eased as more information has come out.

"A lot of what's going on isn't directed at citizens or tourists or locals or anything like that. Most of the things going on, again, are in Culiacán. I can't speak to what's going on there but everything in Mazatlán seems to be pretty OK. I'm really not worried about going out," Milligan said.

"It's still quiet because I think people are still a little bit scared of coming out, but other than that, businesses are back open. Things seem to be up and running as normal."

CANCELLED FLIGHTS

"I think the bigger concern is being able to come home," Forscutt told CTV News Edmonton. "There are jobs to come home to and responsibilities to come home to. So hopefully we get some communication as to how all that's going to play out."

Sunwing cancelled all of its southbound flights to Mazatlán on Friday, including departures from Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Kelowna and Vancouver.

Forscutt, her boyfriend, and his family were scheduled to fly back to Edmonton on Tuesday.

As of Friday morning, their airline had not yet said if their flights would be changed.

"I don't know how that backlog is actually going to affect the people that are here and do have to leave," she said.

"We could be stuck here for an extra couple days, who knows?"

Sunwing in a statement told CTV News all passengers with cancelled flights on Friday would receive a full refund within 30 days. It was also offering customers the option to change their travel date or destination at the current cost rate until Jan. 10. If they didn't, it would be cancelled and refunded automatically.

"Just because it's outside the carrier's control, it doesn't mean the airline can wash its hands from its responsibility to get you home," noted Gábor Lukács, president of the Air Passenger Rights group, who wanted to ensure Canadians would receive a refund if they were entitled to one. 

However, his main piece of advice was to follow the guidance of the federal government and avoid travel to areas deemed dangerous. 

"I know it may mean losing some money for passengers, but it's better to lose thousands of dollars than be injured or have your loved ones injured." 

"We're just going to hang tight and see how all of this plays out," Forscutt added. "Hopefully it will all start to wrap itself up soon, but you just never know." 

Regarding the delayed Friday Mazatlán flight, Edmonton International Airport said safety and security were the top priority and encouraged all passengers to follow federal travel advisories and check their flight statuses. 

With files from CTVNews.ca and CTV News Edmonton's Jessica Robb, Marek Tkach and Nicole Lampa