Latin America Roundup -- May 1

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Gulf cartel manager, a retired Mexican cop, gets life term in Texas
A retired Mexican state police commander who led a secret life as a drug boss was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday on federal drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy charges, reports the Associated Press.

American surfer dies in shark attack on Mexico’s Pacific Coast
A U.S. surfer was killed in a shark attack off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, officials said Tuesday. Read the report here. The San Francisco man bled to death Monday after a gray shark bit his right thigh, leaving a 15-inch (38-centimeter) wound, the Guerrero state Public Safety Department said in a statement. He was later identified as 24-four-year-old Adrian Ruiz of San Francisco.

For love of L.A. taco trucks
Some Los Angeles residents have launched an Internet fight against an L.A. County law curbing how long the vehicles can remain parked as they sell their wares. ‘Carne Asada Is Not a Crime,’ proclaims a website that has suddenly caught fire to rally food lovers across Los Angeles in defense of the iconic taco truck, now in the sights of a government crackdown, writes Jean-Paul Renaud.

Fewer Latinos send cash abroad
An aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration and a weak U.S. economy have driven an estimated 3.2 million Latinos to stop sending money to family members in their home countries, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Inter-American Development Bank. James Hohmann reports from Washington.

Latinos still the largest, fastest-growing minority, census shows
The United States grew steadily more diverse last year, with Latinos holding onto their rank as the nation’s largest and fastest-growing minority group, a trend with far-reaching implications for American politics and immigration policies, writes Howard Witt in the Chicago Tribune.

Immigrants strain our resources
Our future depends on advocating sustainable population growth, however politically incorrect, writes Mark Cromer, a senior writing fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization in Opinion. “Elected officials and even many experts in science and the environmental movement have been cowed into silence when it comes to addressing the elephant in California’s living room: population growth,” he writes.

Nuñez denounces ICE raids on businesses
Decrying what he called the federal government’s ‘overboard meat-ax approach,’ California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez joined executives of American Apparel Inc. on Tuesday to condemn escalating raids on businesses to look for undocumented workers, writes Tiffany Hsu.

Mexican track and field engulfed by crisis
Less than 100 days before the start of the Beijing Olympics, Mexican track and field remains engulfed in turmoil and political infighting with two men now recognized by competing bodies as president of the country’s athletics federation, reports Kevin Baxter.

--Deborah Bonello in Mexico City