Latin America roundup -- May 2

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Mexico’s hunt for shark that killed second California surfer draws protest
Authorities used baited hooks to catch sharks Tuesday near a Mexican beach where a U.S. surfer was killed in an attack. Mexico’s naval and maritime authorities said they have strung about 200 yards of lines with baited hooks near the beach in an attempt to catch sharks that may be using the area as a feeding ground, and these methods have drawn protest from environmentalists. The Associated Press reports.

Ecuador leader shakes up military

Intelligence failures, security lapses and the lack of civilian oversight brought to light by a recent Colombian military incursion into his country have prompted Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa to overhaul the command of his armed forces, writes Chris Kraul.

March in Los Angeles smaller, but festive
Thousands of workers waved American flags, marched to mariachi music and rallied for labor and immigrant rights in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday as May Day gatherings drew light but peaceful crowds.

Turnout across Southern California and the nation was markedly lower than in the last few years, when millions of marchers in more than 100 cities hit the streets on May Day to urge a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and other reforms.

Daryl Hannah, environmentalists protest in Westwood, demanding that Occidental oil company clean up Amazon.
The actress and representatives of several groups say the firm’s operations in Peru left behind toxic chemicals that continue to contaminate an indigenous people’s waters. Wearing white haz-mat suits and carrying brooms and mops, dozens of activists crowded the entrance to Occidental Petroleum’s headquarters in Westwood on Wednesday to demand that the company clean up toxic contamination they say it left behind in the rain forest of the Peruvian Amazon, reports Ari B. Bloomekatz.

Long live taco trucks
Call them what you will: roach coaches, loncheras, snack vans. But taco trucks are a rich part of our region’s heritage -- as much so as, say, sidewalk sausage vendors in New York or crab stands at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, says this piece in Opinion.

Yet the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has another word for these mobile kitchens: nuisance.