by Marvin J. Ramírez

He couldn’t realize his dream Eric Campos’s mother Doris, is consoled by Dora H. Canales for the killing of her son. At left Eric’s girlfriend Lisa Martínez and his sisters Doris and Jacqueline Vargas observe the small altar erected in his memory where he died at San Bruno Avenue. ( PHOTO BY MARVIN J. RAMIREZ )

When San Francisco restaurateur Doris Campos gave birth to her first child, he instantly became the center of her world. She made sure that when Eric grew up, he would be a good, exemplary and educated man with strong Catholic principles. Also, he would someday become the first person in the Campos family – emigrated from El Salvador – to achieve a degree of higher education.

Campos attended Catholic schools for most of his life, from preschool and kindergarten to elementary and high school, a privilege not many Latino families can afford.

When asked if Eric ever got into any trouble, she thought deeply and said, not that she can remember. She always made sure that every school Eric attended was near their Salvadorian Panchita’s Restaurant, on 16th Street at Valencia. She monitored his whereabouts most of the time.

“That is why it hurts me most,” Campos said, as she stood during a candle vigil where her son was killed Tuesday, May 15, shot by another teenager. According to his friend, who witnessed the killing, he died quickly.

The young man’s friend, whose name is kept confidential for security reasons, was waiting for Eric across the street and was waiting to meet him, saw two young men get out of a white car to confront Eric, presumably to rob him. The friend then saw Eric running away from the two men, one of whom pointed a handgun at Campos and shot him.

L-R: Eloy Vargas stepfather of Eric Campos (center), followed by his teacher, Mr. Polly, his mother Doris Campos and little sister.

Campos’ friend immediately ran to his aid, as Eric lay on the pavement at the 3600 block of San Bruno Avenue, in the Visitation Valley neighborhood.

“When I arrived to see him, I told him to stay put…he said, ‘tell my family that I love them’…didn’t last long. The bullet went directly into his heart.” Campos died at the age of 19.

The suspect, a 16-year-old teenager, was arrested Wednesday at 11 a.m. Investigators said they believe the fatal shooting was robbery-related. Police have not revealed his identity due to his age.

A preschool alum of Compañeros del Barrio at the Centro del Pueblo, he transferred to St. Charles School and attended from kindergarten through the 8th grade. He spent 9th grade at St. Ignacio, and then went to Leadership High School for the 10th and 11th grades. He finally graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 2006.

In September of last year Campos began attending City College of San Francisco pursuing a degree in graphic design, while carrying a load of 13 units. His passion, said his mother, was architecture, and he was very skilled at drawing.

Eric Campos receives his First Communion.

“My son was very special, he liked to enjoy life.”

Monday she went to the auction with Eric, who wanted to buy a motorcycle, although he didn’t know how to ride one, but he said it would be as easy as riding a bicycle. She said he wanted it so he would go around alone. He didn’t like to walk with a group.

“He said he wanted to go around by himself…and wanted to buy a cheap motorcycle so I wouldn’t have to spend too much money.”

His girlfriend, Lisa Martínez, a psychology major at Chico State University, moved to SFSU last semester so she could be with him. They were going to celebrate their third anniversary on Sunday.

“We always talked about the future, of getting married and having five children and buy a big house,” Martínez told El Reportero. “The last time we talked that day, he said he was at his house at his family’s…told me that he would never leave me…”

Eric Campos with one of his teachers when he received his First Communion

Monday at 3:04 p.m. was the time of Eric’s last call to his mother. He asked to borrow her Costco card, so he could buy food for his two dogs, Hus and Remy. No one knew if he ever bought the dog’s food. He was dead at approximately 5:00 p.m.

His funeral services will be held Sunday and Monday at Duggan’s Funeral Services, at 3434 17th Street @ Valencia Street, in San Francisco. His remains will be taken to Cypress Cemetery on Tuesday after a 10:00 a.m.-mass at St. Charles Catholic Church, at 418 South Van Ness Ave., which will be officiated by Father José Rodríguez, the same priest who baptized him after he was born, gave him his First Communion, and officiated his Confirmation.

He is survived by his stepfather, Eloy Vargas, his mother Doris Campos, his sisters Doris Marilyn, 15, Jaqueline Vargas 10, his grandmother Rosa Salgado, his grand-aunt Rosa Calderon, his aunts Edelmira Campos, Alicia Campos, his uncles Joaquin, Carlos, Rutilio, and Rafael Campos.

Police are urging anyone with information about the incident to contact homicide inspectors Dennis Maffei or Daniel Everson at (415) 553-1145, or the Police Department’s confidential tip line at (415) 575-4444.

by the El Reportero wire services

Fidel Castro

A confrontation between gangsters and police in the border state of Sonora left 22 people dead on 16 May. This week has been grim for the government which does not appear to be winning its war against organised crime. Earlier in the week, gangsters assassinated or kidnapped three senior lawmen in three different operations in three different states, demonstrating the scope of their power and the quality of their intelligence sources. On 16 May a gang in Sonora simply wanted to challenge the government, so it raided the town of Cananea and took 13 people hostage. Sonora is not one of the 10 states in which the government has deployed the army. Sonora has long been used, however, by smugglers of both people and drugs.

CUBA: Fidel decries U.S. “impunity”

Rumours that Fidel Castro was to make a much-anticipated public appearance at the Workers’ Day march in Havana on 1 May were proved wrong, and the day came and went with no sign of the Cuban leader. Instead of the speech-making for which he is famed, Castro is now communicating with the Cuban people through articles in the state press. With seven missives printed to date of around 1,200 words each, he is proving himself to be as prolifi c a writer as he is a speaker.

Democrats give Uribe a taste of things to come

At the start of May Colombian President Alvaro Uribe paid his first visit to Washington since the Democrats took control of Congress. During his five years in office Uribe has never received such a chilly reception: the Democrats appear determined to make him suffer not only for his policies but also for his close alliance to President George W Bush. Colombia’s free-trade agreement (FTA) with the US is already in grave danger and long-term military cooperation is also in jeopardy.

Interstate conflict in Latin America: a thing of the past?

It has become almost a cliché that interstate armed confl ict in Latin America is a thing of the past. The last war between Latin American countries (Ecuador against Peru) took place 12 years ago; the one before that (El Salvador against Honduras), 38 years ago. In between there were three armed confrontations involving extra-regional powers, which are usually not counted. However, the region has 18 unsettled inter-state disputes, and over the past 20 years eight of them involved sabre-rattling, deployment or use of military force. The most widely held view is that the region has found a way to contain these disputes. This report takes a hard look at this assumption.

Pope assails capitalism, Marxism in address to Latin American bishops

APARECIDA, Brazil – Pope Benedict on Sunday blamed both Marxism and unbridled capitalism for Latin America’s problems, urging bishops to mould a new generation of Roman Catholic leaders in politics to reverse the church’s declining influence in the region.

He also warned of unfettered capitalism and globalization, blamed by many in Latin America for a deep divide between the rich and poor. The Pope said it could give “rise to a worrying degradation of personal dignity through drugs, alcohol and deceptive illusions of happiness.”

Benedict, speaking in Spanish and Portuguese to the bishops, also said Latin America needs more dedi- cated Catholics in leadership positions in politics, the media and at universities. And he said the church’s leaders must halt a trend that has seen millions of Catholics turn into born-again Protestants or simply stop going to church. (Latin News and Canadian Press contributed to this report.)

­by Alex Meneses Miyashita

Harry Reid

The Senate began debating immigration, while a tentative agreement was reached this week between Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) said May 9 that if an agreement was not reached by May 14, the chamber would take Up legislation which passed the Senate last year as a starting point for the debate.

The bill Reid is bringing to the floor passed the Senate with 62 votes in the 109th Congress, including those of 23 Republicans.

Sponsored by Sens. Mel Martínez (R-Fla.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), it included border security and interior enforcement provisions, as well as a guest worker program and a three-tiered path to legalization for undocumented immigrants.

Reid said the bill was “imperfect” but that it provided a good point to start debate as it passed “overwhelmingly” last year. He added a new compromise bill will be voted on if it’s finalized within the two weeks allotted for debate, refusing requests by Republican lawmakers to give negotiators more time. We don’t have more time,” Reid said.

Legislators from both parties in the Senate, including its three Hispanic members, and Bush Administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutiérrez, have been meeting for several weeks trying to pin down a proposal.

Arlen Specter

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said last week negotiators were nearing “a grand agreement.” While Republicans and Democrats are expressing hope they will reach one, indications as to if or when it will happen remain Unclear.

“We’re not there yet,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). “There is a great deal of additional work still to be done.”

According to Sen. Robert Menéndez (D-N.J.), “A large part of the problem in getting an agreement so far this year has been the Administration’s proposal which acted as a marker in these negotiations.”

The White House proposal has been criticized by several Hispanic and immigrant advocates.

The plan includes border enforcement “triggers” that need to be fulfilled In order to address other aspects of reform, such as granting a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants.

It sets the costs of three year temporary visas for undocumented immigrants wishing to earn a path to citizenship at $3,500, plus an additional $8~000 for permanent residency. The time to obtain a green card could take as long as 13 years.

In addition’ the plan scales back family-based visas and requires foreign workers in a new program to return to their home countries after some time’ offering no path to citizenship.

“From the minute we saw this proposal it became clear that they were no longer where they were last year on this issue,” Menéndez said. “In essence, their plan moved far to the right.”

He added, “Evidently, the White House convinced itself that it must have the support of certain Republican senators who opposed and worked to defeat last year’s bipartisan bill.”

A key negotiator is Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who has opposed granting undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign workers a path to permanent residency.

Frank Sharry’ director of the National Immigration Forum, said the most contentious issues seem to be the future of family visas and guest workers.

“The reason it is so complicated is that the Republicans are putting on the table a whole new way to approach the future of legal immigration’ both temporary and permanent, and they’re trying to fi gure out how to make that work,” he said. “Republicans have said that temporary means temporary, while Democrats insist that we shouldn’t be creating a bracero program.”

Menéndez said that the fact that “no one has walked away from these negotiations” is a hopeful sign’ but he and other Democrats are urging President Bush to start adding more pressure to achieve comprehensive reform legislation.

“If he doesn’t step in quickly,” Menéndez said, “this process is going to fall apart.”

Hispanic Link.