Hero of the left Cesar Chavez exposed as a monster as girls make horrific abuse allegations
Cesar Chavez, an iconic hero of the political left, has been posthumously accused of grooming and sexually abusing girls as young as 12.
Chavez, the charismatic campaigner for farmworkers' rights, gained international prominence with strikes and fasts for higher wages and better working conditions for migrant workers who picked grapes and performed other agricultural labor.
After founding the United Farm Workers (UFW) union in 1962 he became the face of the Latino civil rights movement and is still celebrated in murals at schools across the nation. His birthday is a holiday in states including California.
Chavez, who was Mexican-American, died in 1993 aged 66.
The following year, President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.
When Joe Biden entered the Oval Office in 2021 he installed a bust of Chavez next to his desk, at the same time removing one of Winston Churchill.
His fellow iconic labor leader Dolores Huerta, now aged 96, also claimed Chavez forced her to have sex in a grape field in 1966.
Cesar Chavez, the iconic labor leader, has been accused of abusing girls
The two girls were both daughters of fellow protest marchers, and are both now aged 66.
One told the newspaper she was summoned to Chavez's office when she was 13 and he was 45.
She claimed he locked the door, led her to a yoga mat and sexually assaulted her, telling her 'Don’t tell anyone, they’d get jealous.'
She claimed he molested her dozens of times over the next four years.
Another claimed she was 12 when Chavez first groped her breasts in his office, and that there were further assaults for several years.
Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the UFW with Chavez, came up with the workers' clarion call 'SÃ, se puede' - 'Yes, we can.'
She claimed Chavez 'manipulated and pressured' her to have sex.
Once, in 1966 in Delano, California, Chavez drove her out to a grape field and forced her to have sex 'against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped,' she told the New York Times.
She became pregnant twice and arranged for the children to be given to other families, the newspaper reported.
'Unfortunately, he used some of his great leadership to abuse women and children. It’s really awful,' Huerta said.
Joe Biden placed a bust of Cesar Chavez behind him in the Oval Office
Dolores Huerta, Chavez's fellow labor leader, made allegations against him
In a statement Chavez’s family said they were 'not in a position to judge' the claims.
They said: 'As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual misconduct. These allegations are deeply painful to our family.'
The New York Times investigation said the two girls had gone on to suffer depression and panic attacks.
UFW announced it will not take part in annual celebrations of Chavez.
The Cesar Chavez Foundation, which preserves memorials including his grave in California, said there were allegations that Chavez 'behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization’s values.'
The foundation added that it had no direct reports or firsthand knowledge of the claims.
Cesar Chavez seen in a California union office in 1965
United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez (right) joined Jesse Jackson (left) on a march in McFarland, California in 1988
In a statement it said: 'Some of the reports are family issues, and not our story to tell or our place to comment on.
'Far more troubling are allegations involving abuse of young women or minors. Allegations that very young women or girls may have been victimized are crushing.'
The foundation said it would work with the UFW to create confidential channels for those who may have been harmed by Chavez.
A statue of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez is displayed at the Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Park on March 18, 2026 in San Fernando, California
A mural of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez is displayed at the Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Park on March 18, 2026 in San Fernando, California
Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, his birthday, was named a federal commemorative holiday by President Barack Obama in 2014, and it is a state holiday in several states including California and Texas.
The day has historically included marches, service projects and educational programs.
UFW said it would not participate in any events this year, and some cities were canceling or renaming activities.
Chavez married Helen Fabela in 1948 and they had eight children between 1949 and 1958. Fabela died in 2016.
Iran has confirmed the death of security chief Ali Larijani hours after Israel announced he had been killed in an overnight strike.
The regime initially appeared to deny the report - by posting a handwritten note it claimed was written by the late official on his social media account.
Larijani, Iran’s feared national security chief, was thought by many to have been the de facto leader of the country and the architect of its terror.
Iran's confirmation of his death comes after it also announced the killing of Basij commander Gholamreza Soleiman.
Larijani
Iran has confirmed the death of its security chief, Ali Larijani.
On Tuesday, Israel claimed its military assassinated Larijani in a secretive operation, effectively eliminating a pivotal figure at the heart of the regime who insiders had claimed was preparing to consolidate power amid the Middle East crisis.
Hours after the ayatollah was declared dead, he posted a chilling message on social media, swearing revenge.
But Iran has now admitted his passing - confirming he was killed in an overnight strike.
Soleimani
Iran's IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) has acknowledged the death of Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of the Basij militia.
Earlier today, Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said security chief Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of Iran's Basij forces, had joined the late Ayatollah Khamenei in the 'depths of hell' after targeted overnight airstrikes.
Iran's de facto leader has been killed in an Israeli strike.
Ali Larijani, one of Iran's most senior officials and a central figure in the country's security establishment, was killed in an overnight attack in Tehran – days after publicly mocking President Donald Trump.
He had been heading the Supreme National Security Council – Iran's highest security body – and, following the deaths of other senior figures, was widely viewed as the most powerful man in the regime.
He was the architect of the brutal crackdown on protesters in Iran earlier this year.
'He was effectively the leader, the one calling the shots,' an Israeli Military official said. 'He was the de facto leader of Iran, and we believe him to be eliminated in an Israeli Air Force strike last night. He was the one instructing attacks against all states. He was directing fire across the entire region.'
Last night Iranian authorities confirmed he was dead.
Larijani was last seen publicly on Friday in Tehran, appearing alongside senior officials at the Quds Day march. The annual event was established after the Iranian Revolution and reflects the Islamic Republic's long–standing opposition to Israel.
Ali Larijani, one of Iran's most senior officials and a central figure in the country's security establishment, was killed in an overnight attack in Tehran
His killing marks one of the most significant blows to Iran's leadership since the start of the conflict and leaves few senior figures in place after a series of targeted eliminations in recent weeks, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
His son Mojtaba, the new Supreme Leader, has not been seen since the start of the war, fuelling speculation that he may have been seriously injured in the strike that killed his father.
Iranian state media confirmed that Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the country's thuggish Basij force, had also been killed in airstrikes. The Basij is a volunteer militia which is often called out to suppress dissent.
Larijani is closely tied to the suppression of unrest in 2009 as well as the brutality that killed thousands of protesters this January – a campaign in which Soleimani also played a central role.
Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said: 'Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to continue hunting down the leadership of the regime of terror and to repeatedly cut off the head of the octopus and not let it grow.'
Videos on social media showed jubilant Iranian dissidents. Gio Esfandiary told the Daily Mail: 'This is a significant moment, one that brings a sense of relief and hope for many Iranians after years of suffering. Now, we are witnessing, one by one, the removal of those whose hands were stained with blood. We are very thankful to Israel and President Trump.'
After US and Israeli strikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, the Islamic regime was still very much alive due to one formidable politician.
That man was Ali Larijani, Iran’s feared national security chief, thought by many to have been the de facto leader of the country and the architect of its terror.
Hours after the ayatollah was declared dead, he posted a chilling message on social media, swearing revenge.
'Today we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before,' the top official said.
On Tuesday, Israel claimed its military assassinated Larijani in a secretive operation, effectively eliminating a pivotal figure at the heart of the dictatorship who insiders claim was preparing to consolidate power amid the Middle East crisis.
According to Israeli media, the killing of Larijani was initially scheduled for Sunday night, but was postponed at the last minute.
It wasn't until Monday afternoon that authorities received the vital intelligence that he would travel to one of his hideout apartments near Tehran alongside his son, as opposed to his normal residence.
On Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's command, precise strikes were launched and the mission was soon complete, with one Israeli security source confidently telling Channel 12 in the aftermath: 'There is no way he survived this attack.'
Israel released an image of Benjamin Netanyahu ordering the assassination of the Iranian figures
The assassination of Larijani was facilitated due to valuable intelligence that Israeli officials received from residents of Tehran 'over the past 24 hours,' an Israeli official told Iran International.
'In recent days, Larijani had behaved arrogantly, appearing frequently in public (including at Quds Day rallies), engaging with both local and international media, and thereby exposing himself to public view, which ultimately led to his identification,' the official said.
The official added that the country's intelligence services continue to receive several reports that 'precisely guide them to the locations of Basij and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps checkpoints, significantly aiding their efforts'.
Following the announcement of Larijani's death, the Israeli Prime Minister's X account published a photograph of Netanyahu on the phone, 'ordering the elimination of senior Iranian regime officials'.
'The IDF announces that overnight, March 17, 2026, the Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF intelligence, and through the integration of unique operational capabilities, conducted a precise strike that eliminated Ali Larijani, the Secretary of Iranian Supreme National Security Council, who operated as the de facto leader of the Iranian terror regime,' an IDF statement said.
Iranian state media generated anticipation by suggesting the claims were false, and promised to publish a statement by Larijani, but all that emerged was a handwritten note commemorating Iranian 'martyrs', that was most likely penned before his assassination.
As well as eliminating Larijani - the highest profile figure killed since Ali Khamenei -Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said a separate strike killed the Basij paramilitary force commander, Gholamreza Soleimani.
'Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation programme, Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell,' Katz announced on Tuesday.
'The regime's leaders are being killed and their capabilities are being neutralised,' he said in a televised statement.
'Our military is making every effort to continue to strike and neutralise Iran's missile capabilities, as well as its strategic infrastructure,' he added.
The twin deaths are evidence of the deep grip Israel has on the machinations of the Islamic regime's top brass, with intelligence penetrating their every movement as the US dominates from the skies above.
Larijani's death in particular will no doubt be a devastating blow to Iran, as a figure central to both its war machine and lethal suppression, who moved swiftly between the religious establishment and matters of foreign diplomacy.
Only last week did he defiantly appear on Iranian state television, warning Donald Trump to 'take care not to be eliminated' before taunting the US President for his 'grave miscalculation'.
Marching through the streets of Tehran, in an attempted display of bravado, the military overlord dismissed the Israeli-US attacks on the capital as being 'out of desperation'.
'These attacks are out of fear, out of desperation. One who is strong wouldn't bomb demonstrations at all. It's clear that it has failed,' Larijani declared at the Quds Day march.
The 67-year-old was at the time one of the most powerful figures in the Iranian establishment - masterminding the country's defence while distilling fear among the civilian population - and it's unclear who, if anyone, has the ability to replace him.
Larijani last week warned Donald Trump to 'take care not to be eliminated' before taunting the US President for his 'grave miscalculation'
While Larijani filmed himself walking defiantly among crowds of people on Friday, Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is yet to make a public appearance since his appointment.
Rumours are swirling that the hardline cleric was flown to Moscow for treatment of serious injuries following an airstrike, and may even be dead.
While his father was the country's constitutional commander-in-chief and religious authority, it is largely agreed upon that true power lay at the hands of Larijani.
A former parliamentary speaker and commander in the IRGC, he was responsible for the mass slaughter of civilian protestors earlier this year, with some reports indicating 30,000 citizens were killed in the bloodshed.
The 67-year-old was one of the first Iranian officials to demand that violence crush the dissenters calling for an end to clerical rule.
While he would never have succeeded Khamenei as supreme leader - such a role is reserved for a cleric and Khamenei left a shortlist of three - Larijani was hoping to consolidate power following the ayatollah's death.
He was appointed chief of the National Security Council in August, following the 12-day war with Israel that left Iran's military badly wounded, and has been the country's de facto leader ever since, sidelining the official president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
He was given responsibility for negotiations with the West in the weeks before the war started and on March 1 said he would be heading an interim committee for running the country.
Born in Najaf, Iraq in 1957 to a prominent Shia cleric who was close to the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Larijani's family has been influential within Iran's political system for decades.
A veteran of the IRGC during the Iran-Iraq war, Larijani later headed state broadcasting IRIB for a decade from 1994 before serving as parliamentary speaker from 2008 to 2020.
In 1996, he was appointed as Khamenei's representative to the Supreme National Security Council.
Larijani ran in the 2005 presidential elections, losing to populist candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with whom he later had disagreements over nuclear diplomacy. Larijani was then disqualified from running for president in both 2021 and 2024.
Most recently, he was appointed as Khamenei’s personal envoy to Vladimir Putin, and met the Russian President in Moscow. He also appeared on Al Jazeera to declare that Tehran had learnt the lessons of last year’s conflict with Israel and would fight back with force this time around.
'Larijani is a true insider, a canny operator, familiar with how the system operates,' Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group's project director for Iran, said before the Middle East war began.
The IDF also confirmed it had assassinated the head of the IRGC Basij paramilitary militia, Soleimani, who ordered the slaughter of thousands of anti-government protesters in January.
He and his deputy, Seyyed Karishi, were killed in a makeshift tent area, which had been set up to make it harder to follow them as opposed to in a known headquarters.
The military also announced that it killed the IRGC's Aerospace Force chief.
'In a precise strike in Tehran: The IDF eliminated the Commander of the Basij Unit,' the Israeli military said.
'Yesterday (Monday), the Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF intelligence, targeted and eliminated Gholamreza Soleimani, who operated as commander of the Basij unit for the past six years,' it added.
The Basij, a volunteer force under Iran's Revolutionary Guards, 'led the main repression operations' by the authorities during recent mass protests in Iran, the Israeli army said.
The Iranian leaders wiped out by US and Israeli strikes
Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader
Religious
Inner Circle & Senior Officials
Ali Shamkani
Advisor to Khamenei
Political
Mohammad Pakpour
Head of the IRGC
Military
Ali Larijani
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council
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