Despite the Covid-19 pandemic in Mexico and the decision of the federal authorities to close beaches and recreational centers to mitigate the spread of the new coronavirus, people continue to visit the coasts, which has generated critical reactions, including from the United States Ambassador, Christopher Landau, who condemned the violent attitude of a foreign tourist in Puerto Vallarta.
In a video that reporter Doraliz Terrón published through Twitter, images were shown of several tourists at Los Muertos Beach in Puerto Vallarta. However, the journalist was assaulted by a foreign man. “You can’t film us, get out of here,” the man yelled at the woman as he slapped away the phone she was recording with.
The foreigner went on to verbally assault the reporter and screamed at her to ‘fuck off’ and calling her a ‘stupid bitch’ while insisting they wanted money from her for using them in her video, asking ‘how much are you going to pay us for this?’
The two gentlemen have been identified by locals as Terry Redue and Guy Carey from Vancouver, B.C.
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Tuesday night, Landau issued a message criticizing the person’s attitude. “What a shame! I don’t know if he was a citizen of the United States or Canada, but the truth is he was rude,” wrote the ambassador.
In addition to pointing out the behavior of the individual, he apologized if the subject was an American: “My apologies if he was American. We are not all like that. I have urged tourists from the United States to go home. Who comes for tourism during a pandemic?”
Landau made reference to Canadian nationality because the person spoke English, and for this reason, the Canadian ambassador to Mexico, Graeme C. Clark, also expressed his position on the matter: “I fully agree with @USAmbMex. Completely unacceptable. I apologize if you are a Canadian. “
A few days ago, the mayor of Puerto Vallarta, Arturo Dávalos, during an interview with a local media, called for tourists not to visit the beaches while the health contingency lasts.
“This is not the time for tourists or visitors to come, it is time for them to take shelter and stay at home, right now are not the best conditions so we are not going to attend to them as they deserve and most importantly, they are not going to be infected or will not infect someone,” said the mayor.
The tourists were located at Fidencio’s Restaurant, which while restaurants are allowed to remain open with social distancing guidelines, they are prohibited to offer service on the beaches at this time. The reporter says she received harassment from staff at Fidencio’s while waiting for authorities.
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