New Mexico officials on Wednesday responded with swift condemnation to revelations of sexual abuse allegations — detailed in the New York Times — against civil rights activist and United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez.
Some of those allegations came from fellow union organizer and New Mexico native Dolores Huerta, who issued a statement detailing for the first time two incidents with Chavez, one in which she said she was “manipulated and pressured into having sex with him,” and another time, she wrote, when “I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”
Both, she said, led to pregnancy and she had two children that she arranged to have raised by other families.
Huerta, who was raised in California, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012; she co-founded with Chavez the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers union.
“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work,” Huerta wrote. “The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way. I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights.”
She decided to come forward now, she said, referencing the New York Times investigation, after learning she was not alone.
“The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me,” Huerta, who is 95, wrote. “My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years. There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did. Cesar’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement.”
In a statement provided to Source NM, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called the allegations “shocking and horrifying” and said she supports “a full and thorough investigation of these deeply disturbing allegations, and my heart goes out to my friend Dolores Huerta and anyone else who suffered abuse. It’s important to remember that the labor rights movement — built on respect for human dignity and collective power — is larger than any one individual. We remain committed to honoring that history and the basic human rights that the movement fought to recognize.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), in a statement, characterized the allegations against Chavez as “horrific.” Abuse of any kind, he continued “especially against children, is indefensible and a betrayal of the values that Latino leaders have championed for generations. There is no excuse.”
Chavez’s name, Luján said, should be removed from “landmarks, institutions, and honors. We cannot celebrate someone who carried out such disturbing harm.”
New Mexico House of Representatives Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) echoed that call in a statement Wednesday afternoon, calling the allegations against Chavez “horrific” and saying Chavez’s name should be “swiftly” removed from public entities.
“I pray for all of the survivors, including Dolores Huerta,” Martínez said. “I keep Dolores, her family, and the entire farmworker movement in my heart.”
Schools in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Deming and Las Cruces bear Chavez’s name, and monuments and murals celebrate him throughout the state. In an emailed statement to Source NM on Wednesday, Santa Fe Public Schools spokesperson Tara Melton said the district is “aware” of the allegations against Chavez and that staff members are considering next steps, in line with district policy, regarding a name change at one of the district’s elementary schools.
“Any consideration of a name change would ultimately be brought before the Board of Education for discussion and direction,” she said. “We remain committed to engaging thoughtfully with our community and ensuring that any decisions are made through the appropriate processes and with careful consideration.”
Officials from other districts with schools named after Chavez did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Wednesday.
In Albuquerque, Avenida Cesar Chavez stretches roughly two miles and ends at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, before turning into Avenida Dolores Huerta for less than a mile.
In a statement to Source NM, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller characterized the “revelations” about Chavez as “horrifying,” and said he would work with city staff to re-evaluate how Chavez is honored across Albuquerque. In addition to the street named after him, the city also operates the Cesar Chavez Community Center.
“While he has meant a great deal to many families, this new information demands we widen our lens,” Keller said. “No one’s historic stature puts them beyond accountability. My heart is with the victims who carried the weight of this despicable abuse for so long, including our friend and fierce civil rights advocate Dolores Huerta, whose historic contributions stand on their own.”
State Rep. Andrea Romero, who chairs New Mexico’s Jeffrey Epstein “truth commission,” in a statement said the “heartbreaking revelations” were a “horrifying reminder that systemic abuse does not discriminate, no matter a man’s reputation or the movement he built.
“The painful pattern of powerful men using their positions to silence survivors, while the institutions around them look away, is precisely what the Epstein truth commission was created to confront,” Romero said.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) noted in a statement that she was “heartbroken and deeply disturbed by the stories that have come forward from women who say they were abused as girls by Cesar Chavez, and Dolores Huerta’s painful account of what she endured.”
Both the farmworker and civil rights movement, she said, were “built by countless people — especially women and families who sacrificed everything for a better future. That history is bigger than any one person. Honoring that legacy means facing painful truths and continuing the work for justice with honesty and humanity.”
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) issued a statement describing the accounts of abuse and rape by Chavez as “abhorrent and appalling, and I condemn his actions in the strongest terms possible. The survivors who came forward must be heard, supported, and taken seriously. This moment demands real accountability, including removing his name from our schools, streets, and other public landmarks. The movement Chavez helped advance belongs to the people and to the farmworkers, not any one person, and confronting the truth is necessary to move forward with justice, compassion, and integrity.”
Both the Cesar Chavez Foundation and United Farm Workers issued statements, the latter canceling any involvement with Cesar Chavez Day activities on March 31.
“Instead, we call on our allies and supporters to take part in immigration justice events and acts of service to support farmworkers or empower vulnerable people in their own communities,” UFW’s statement said.
The Cesar Chavez Foundation statement said the organizations were working in partnership to establish “a safe and confidential process for those who wish to share their experiences of historic harm, and, if they choose to, participate in efforts toward repair and reconciliation.”