05/11/2021
I don’t blame Vacaya for the double homicide that occurred at the beach and Hyatt Ziva Resort on Thursday November 4, 2021. But I do hold Vacaya 100% responsible. A sacred trust has been betrayed. A promise has been broken by a trusted gay owned and operated company and its LGBTQ customers (aka the Vacaya family).
It easily could have been two of us dead on the beach. And for that matter twenty or fifty of us being shipped home in aluminum caskets. The fear and terror on everyone’s face in the dark room I was huddled in was REAL. Speaking as an African-American and Gay Man, with one foot firmly planted in each world, I say the way Vacaya is now treating me feels very familiar. Vacaya you want me to pretend nothing happened. “Let’s just have a kiki rest of our time in Cancun and pretend all our lives were not put in grave mortal risk. I AM NOT THAT GIRL.
Gangs on the beach. First victim facedown shot dead. Semiautomatic gun spraying bullets into the pool, passed staff and guests in pursuit of a second victim shot dead on property. Panic and terrified Vacayans and staff huddled in rooms, storage lockers, restaurants, back and upper rooms with only a curtain and each other’s bodies shielding is from impending doom. One guest having taken cover under a lounge chair stared at and was spoken to by the gunman in pursuit of the second victim killed in cold blood moments later. Yes, the events yesterday were very REAL.
I along with everyone else were in absolute fear of our lives. We texted final messages to loved one’s back home trembling to find a safe place to lighten our phones. When the first all clear was given, we were all corralled into the double decker lobby area. It still being “an active and changing scene,” many of us were asking why bring us out into the open. The saying goes be careful what you wish for because around 4:30pm we got called up by building numbers and escorted off to isolation while the property was still being searched for more assailants. Having no phone service here, I had only my WhatsApp on a spotty WIFI to contact other guests to get news of what was happening, and then to relay it to other guests that had only me sending them information because we had exchanged phone numbers. It was as late as 6:45 pm when the last new friend contacted me via WhatsApp to ask me if we were still on lock down.
Every explanation of what happened on the beach, in my personal opinion, boils down to one word: GREED. “The Daily Beast previously reported an alarming rise in gang violence around Mexico’s Mayan Riviera… According to one report, the area has seen a 783% rise in violent crime since 2019.” CBS News & The Guardian reported, “Two foreigners killed and one wounded on October 20 of 2021 (only a few weeks ago).” Yet with all this information out there, my question is why do other resorts have armed guards on the beach and we, a group of nearly 800 LGBTQ’s and allies had none. This is the broken trust I’m speaking of. I paid a premium to go with Vacaya to let my hair down and feel safe. To meet others like me and in support of me and know Vacaya “has got our backs.”
I recently survived eight days in Haiti to visit my retired mother after burying my father in July. I had to navigate long gun totting gang members there and was now falsely lulled into a sense of community and safety. How ironic yesterday would have it been had the worse happened. Thank God we were all safe. We were told no one was hurt but that was another mistruth as a Hyatt Ziva staff member was shot in the leg. And though I did not see it for myself, I am told a Vacayan guest had his head bashed open in the panic to retreat from the gun fire. And another went to the hospital due to the gunfire.
Actual drug dealers, just steps away from my room on the beach? Vacaya, it’s a no brainer. Armed guards should have been posted on either end of the beach. Just like our neighboring resorts have posted armed security. It would seem even the turtles nesting at night received more attentive security then we were afforded. As stated earlier, Vacaya, you are 100% responsible for yesterday’s events. I trusted you. And that trust is broken. Please don’t do treat me like other travel companies would. Your website states, “To build a truly transformative company, it takes a unique group of leaders and a dedicated team willing to rewrite the playbook rather than simply follow the rules.”
Vacaya please do better, because I deserve better. I am not broken. I am insulted with your silence and expectation that we all move along and pretend like nothing happened. Put your money where your mouth is, and give me and everyone else present a full refund and not a future travel voucher. This was a disaster and responsibility needs to be taken. If you are the best. THEN BE THE BEST.
