Chavez accused of abusing girls, raping Huerta

Alleged incidents occurred in 1960s and 1970s, according to newspaper inquiry.

- BY KAREN GARCIA, RICHARD WINTON, MELISSA GOMEZ AND RUBEN VIVES

Bettmann Archive

THE ALLEGATIONS have spurred a wider reckoning of the California labor leader.

Labor leader Cesar Chavez is accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls in the 1970s as well as fellow farmworker leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s, according to an investigation from the New York Times.

The allegations have sparked public outcry from elected leaders and spurred a wider reckoning of a towering figure in California history — the namesake of many streets, parks and even a state holiday.

The New York Times interviewed two women, identified as Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, who said they were sexually abused by Chavez, one repeatedly, when they were children. Rojas said Chavez raped her when she was 15.

Huerta told the paper that she was raped by Chavez in a grape field in Delano in 1966.

In an Instagram post, Huerta said she kept the incident secret for 60 years because she believed “exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, the Chavez family expressed their shock and sadness regarding the allegations.

“As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual abuse,” the statement said. “This is deeply painful to our family.”

Huerta said she experienced two sexual encounters with Chavez. The first time, she was “manipulated and pressured into having sex with him,” she said, and felt she couldn't say anything because he was her boss and the leader of a movement to which she was devoted.