Latin America Roundup -- April 30

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Death toll rises to 15 in Mexico shootout near U.S. border

Mexico’s military posted soldiers around a major hospital Monday to guard suspects wounded during weekend gun battles that raged across Tijuana yesterday. Two more deaths raised the toll to 15 from the pre-dawn Saturday shootouts in the violence-plagued Mexican city across the U.S. border from San Diego, local news media reported. The Associated Press has the story.

Meanwhile, soldiers and police are sent in the wake of a weekend gang battle. Weapons seized after the fighting have been linked to several high-profile killings and assassination attempts. Read the report here.

Death toll rises to 15 in Mexico shootout near U.S. border

Mexico’s military posted soldiers around a major hospital Monday to guard suspects wounded during weekend gun battles that raged across Tijuana yesterday. Two more deaths raised the toll to 15 from the pre-dawn Saturday shootouts in the violence-plagued Mexican city across the U.S. border from San Diego, local news media reported. The Associated Press has the story.

Meanwhile, soldiers and police are sent in the wake of a weekend gang battle. Weapons seized after the fighting have been linked to several high-profile killings and assassination attempts. Read the report here.

Mexico’s oil industry woes

The country, which is a top U.S. oil supplier, is in the midst of a heated debate over foreign investment,The Times says in an editorial.

17 are detained in alleged smuggling

U.S. authorities patrolling off the coast Monday morning intercepted a suspected smuggling boat loaded with 17 people, federal authorities said. Richard Marosi reports.

Museum to honor Latino culture and history advances

Four years ago, a museum celebrating the history and culture of Native Americans opened at the east end of the National Mall. Within a decade, one honoring the contributions of African Americans will be erected near the Washington Monument. Yet Latinos, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing minority, have no museum of their own in the nation’s capital, writes James Hohmann in Washington.

But the National Museum of the American Latino came one step closer to reality Tuesday when the House, by a vote of 291 to 117, approved legislation that includes creation of a commission to study the feasibility of building such a facility.

320 complaints of racial profiling and not one had merit, LAPD says

Los Angeles Police Department officials announced Tuesday that they investigated more than 300 complaints of racial profiling against officers last year and found that none had merit -- a conclusion that left members of the department’s oversight commission incredulous, writes Joel Rubin.

Televisa-Univision trial delayed

A federal judge agreed Monday to delay a much-anticipated trial that would pit one giant of Spanish-language television, Mexico’s Grupo Televisa, against another, Univision Communications Inc., Meg James writes.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City