Cesar Chavez, the famed union leader and champion of farmworker rights, has been accused of sexually abusing two girls in the 1970s as well as Dolores Huerta, with whom he co-founded the United Farm Workers, in the 1960s, according to an investigation published by the New York Times.

The newspaper spoke with two women who said they were children when Chavez began to groom and sexually abuse them during his time as UFW president. One of the women said Chavez raped her in a motel room in 1975 when she was 15 years old and he was 47. The other woman said Chavez began groping her in his office at the union’s headquarters when she was 13. Both women, now in their 60s, were the daughters of organizers within the farmworker movement.

NPR has not independently investigated the allegations against Chavez, who died in 1993. The New York Times spoke with more than 60 people and reviewed documents and other materials bolstering his accuser’s stories.

Huerta, a labor leader long revered for her work on behalf of farmworkers alongside Chavez, told the newspaper that he raped her in a car in 1966.

She told the Times that “Mr. Chavez drove her out to a secluded grape field in Delano, Calif., parked and forced her to have sex inside the vehicle.” Huerta told the newspaper that she chose not to tell anyone about the rape because “she feared that no one within the union would believe her.”

In a statement posted to Medium on Wednesday, Huerta wrote: “I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”

She wrote that she had two separate encounters with Chavez in the 1960s.

“The first time, I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to,” she wrote. “The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”

Both encounters led to pregnancies that she kept secret, she wrote. After the children were born, she said, she arranged for them to be raised by other families. Over the years, she has become close to those children, she said, “but even then, no one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago.”

Some people close to Chavez during his lifetime, including longtime bodyguards, rejected the allegations against him, according to the Times.

The newspaper’s report came a day after the United Farm Workers issued a statement saying it had become aware of the allegations against Chavez.

“Allegations that very young women or girls may have been victimized are crushing,” the union said. It said it was seeking to learn more and to help women who may have been victims. It also announced that it would not be participating in events for Cesar Chavez Day, a state holiday celebrated in California each March 31, Chavez’s birthday.

The Cesar Chavez Foundation, which in part works to promote Chavez’s legacy and with which members of his family are still involved, wrote in its own statement on Tuesday that it would also seek to support victims of the alleged abuse.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by what we are hearing,” the foundation wrote. “The Foundation is working with leaders in the Farmworker Movement to be responsive to these allegations, support the people who may have been harmed by his actions, and ensure we are united and guided by our commitment to justice and community empowerment.”

Chavez became a national figure during the 1960s for his work organizing farmworkers struggling for better wages and working conditions, employing hunger strikes and a famed national boycott of California grapes.

In the decades since his death, he has become one of the most iconic heroes of the labor movement and of the Mexican American community. Schools, community centers and streets across the western United States have been renamed after him.

Fallout from the abuse allegations has been swift. In California, Texas and Arizona, celebrations planned in his honor later this month have been canceled or renamed. On social media, some Latinos have been calling for the many murals of Chavez to be painted over, and for schools and boulevards bearing his name to be renamed after Huerta.

This summer, when soccer and the World Cup come to America, FIFA will have a tough task: hosting a global competition during a period of political violence and instability. It won’t be the first time for FIFA, soccer’s governing body.

Take the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. A coup had just taken place two years before in 1976. And before a tournament ball was ever kicked in the summer of 1978, a “Dirty War” was taking place. Tens of thousands of people were either killed or kidnapped throughout Argentina, and a brutal junta ruled the country using violence and fear.

But in 1978, soccer offered the country a respite. This is where Roger Bennett’s new book, We Are the World (Cup), starts. It isn’t a story about soccer and war. The book is a love letter first to the beautiful game. It brings you into one man’s safe space, a space that he shares with millions of people around the world where joy, pain, love, and community dance together in a synchronized trance. The World Cup, as he writes, being a thing “far more precious than mere sport.”

Every four years, the tournament is hosted in a different city. The 1978 games in Argentina was the first time Bennett experienced the spectacle. It was also his first glimpse at how soccer often mirrors life and all its complications. At age 7, he saw Argentina win the final against the Netherlands, 3-1. The tournament was an enthralling spectacle but was also used for political propaganda — a smokescreen for Gen. Jorge Videla’s state-sponsored terror campaign. He writes:

“When two teams take the field, their nation’s histories, politics, and cultures take the field alongside them. It is that fusion of sporting, cultural, and geopolitical aspects that make the storytelling so epic, poetic, and multilayered. Like Walt Whitman, the tournament contains multitudes. With the games dripping out, one at a time, the entire planet is focused on a single match while it is being played, all the eyes of the world resting on twenty-two elite athletes acting out a sporting telenovela, living making decisions without a script, under conditions of hysterical pressure.” 

This 300-plus page account of Bennett’s life during the weeklong competition weaves through history — both personal and global. The book is a mostly light-hearted exploration of Bennett’s relationship with the tournament, from growing up in England rooting for his local soccer heroes, to watching in amazement every four years as teams from all over the globe take the spotlight on the World Cup stage. It’s a personal account, yes, but at its best, the book is an entrance point for new soccer fans in America. We Are the World (Cup) takes readers through the growth and history — and sometimes the hatred — of soccer in America.

Bennett eventually adopts America as his new home; his story takes readers through the pains and labor of his “one-man crusade to expand the vacuum that was American football coverage.” (Football, as the sport is called around the world, refers to American soccer here.)

The last time the U.S. hosted the World cup was in the summer of 1994. A poll taken before the 1994 World Cup, Bennett writes, revealed that 71% of Americans didn’t know the World Cup was coming to America and the other 29% didn’t care. Another study released then said soccer was America’s 67th favorite sport. “Tractor pulling was 66,” he writes. Americans, at the time, “didn’t just not care about soccer, they actively hated it.”

But American soccer is different now. Mia Hamm walked years ago so Trinity Rodman could run today. By now most Americans know that an Argentine man called Lionel Messi is living somewhere in South Florida with a pink shirt. Soccer jerseys are en vogue. Bars across the country not only play soccer but support local and European clubs. In We Are the World (Cup) readers also get a behind the scenes look at how Bennett and his Men in Blazers media network transformed how we talked about soccer in the U.S.

When the World Cup takes place in the Americas again this summer, some games will be hosted in Mexico and Canada. There will be nearly 50 countries participating. And when the teams take the field, as Bennett writes, their nation’s political tensions will also be on display. For countries like Haiti, Senegal, and Ivory Coast, players and staff will receive certain immigration exemptions, but citizens from those countries expect added visa restrictions under U.S. administration policies. And adding to the complications, Iranian officials are reportedly negotiating to have their matches played in Mexico instead of the U.S.

Just a few months out, there are so many unanswered questions. Is American soccer here to stay? Will the war with Iran, immigration raids, ungodly expensive tickets and a polarized U.S. sour the games? Will Ronaldo sail off into the sunset lifting the trophy like Messi did in 2022? And most importantly: Will the games offer us all a moment of peace and healing? We Are the World (Cup) may not have answers but it will help you understand the storm on the horizon.

Early winter rains followed by multiple heat waves sped up the timeline of spring’s arrival in Los Angeles well ahead of its official start on Friday. Although that meant breaking out flip-flops and scheduling picnics earlier than normal, it has also dashed hopes of a superbloom in Southern California.

Superbloom or not, what’s blooming outside right now is still visually spectacular and worth an Instagram post. Massive amounts of wildflowers can still be found across the region, says Katie Tilford, director of development and communications for the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley.

“It doesn’t have to be the extreme highest number possible of flowers blooming all at once to be enjoyed,” she says, noting that the term “superbloom” has no scientific definition and is “just a word people use.”

“All things considered, it’s still a great year for wildflowers when compared to drier years,” Tilford says.

For 43 years, the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wildflower Hotline has compiled reports of wildflower hot spots, sharing weekly findings from March through May. The free service, narrated by podcaster Tom Henschel, lists publicly accessible wildflower viewing points in Southern and Central California.

“We want people to spread out and not all go to the most popular tourist destinations for flowers, so we’re hoping to share things that are maybe lesser known, but still worthy of being appreciated,” Tilford says.

There are plenty of spots to snag spectacular views and perfumed air, from Chino Hills, where the bright hues of redmaids (Calandrinia menziesii) pop from the hillsides, to the poppy clusters in the Santa Susana Mountains and the lupines and mariposa lilies nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains.

This year’s wildflower timeline has been arriving at different rates across Southern California with fleeting blooms subject to daily-changing weather events. Time of day is also important as certain flowers like the California poppies are sun sensitive, opening their petals only once the sun comes out in full force around midday.

Tilford advises making wildflower sojourns as soon as sightings come in. Check for the latest updated Wildflower Hotline — (818) 768-1802, extension 7 — report each Friday and visit citizen science sites such as iNaturalist for other sightings.

Remember to be a courteous visitor when viewing wildflowers. Don’t trample or pick the flowers and stay on the paths because even barren ground could have seeds germinating beneath. Flowers are things of beauty to humans, but don’t forget they are food, breeding and mating sources for smaller creatures. Also, those with insect phobias should consider this when planning a visit.

To date, here are the best spots to see wildflowers in Southern California.

Santa Monica Mountains

Numerous trails and parks in the Santa Monica Mountains have wildflower clusters right now, particularly California and fire poppies, lupines and mariposa lilies. Best visited early March to April; head to Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve in Woodland Hills, Topanga State Park, Fryman Canyon Park near Studio City and Malibu Creek State Park.

Altadena

After the Eaton fire, Altadena resident René Amy planted a quarter billion California poppy seeds across more than 750 properties in the area. Not all sprouted, but those that have are blooming the best in the subterranean burn scars of former homes, many of which are located high in the hills making them not easily viewable to the public. A drone would be your best bet to get stunning aerial views of Amy’s so-called Great Altadena Poppy Project efforts.

San Gabriel Valley

The northern portion of Irwindale’s Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area offers a spectacular view of the San Gabriel Mountains and a promising cropping of wildflowers along its paths, including ombre-colored linanthus, California suncups and blue dicks (which are actually purple).

Newhall/Santa Clarita

Towsley Canyon in Newhall, nestled in the Santa Susana Mountains just off the Golden State Freeway, and Placerita Canyon State Park, situated between the San Gabriel Mountains and Mojave Desert, are reliable spots to see California poppies and other common annuals.

Wildflowers bloom in Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Sun Valley

Wildflower Hill at the Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery is thriving with a few species of phacelia, including lavender-blue lacy phacelia and violet Canterbury bells. You’ll find the hill through the nursery to the right.

Puente Hills

Lupines, fiddlenecks and bush sunflowers, among other native wildflower species, are just starting to take off in the Puente Hills, particularly in Turnbull Canyon, Powder Canyon and on the Purple Sage Loop.

Basket evening primrose and the deep pink desert sand-verbena grow in the area around Henderson Canyon Road in Borrego Springs in December 2025. After last fall’s rains, a mini wildflower bloom colored the area with flowers much earlier than usual.

(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times)

Thousand Oaks

Home to hundreds of different flowers, the hillsides of Conejo Open Space are covered in yellow monkeyflowers, lupine, California poppies and owl’s clover. The Aqiwo Trail and Wishbone Loop Trail are two strong options for seeing blooms.

Chino Hills

A premiere destination for wildflower viewing, Chino Hills State Park is host to wild hyacinth, poppies, Canterbury bells and redmaids through May.

Ventura

Spring is in full bloom at the 132-acre Arroyo Verde Park. With multiple trail options, the hillsides of this dried-up river valley are rife with vibrant blooms, particularly bush sunflowers and lacy phacelia.

Patches of wildflowers bloom in Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore in early March.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Riverside County

Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon, a popular superbloom-viewing hot spot in recent years, is being outshined this season by Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet where California poppies, fiddlenecks, phacelia and stunning cobalt-hued baby blue eyes are coming up in large numbers mostly around the inner part of the lake.

Antelope Valley

Poppies are at their peak and viewable in and around the Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve as well as at Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park. Many of the poppy fields are intermixed with fellow orange-hued filddlenecks, giving hillsides the appearance of a superbloom.

A man explores the abundant wildflowers on Henderson Canyon Road in Borrego Springs on Dec. 28, 2025.

(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times)

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Wildflowers started blooming here late last year and are mostly past their prime at lower elevations, including at popular viewing sites Henderson Canyon Road and Coyote Canyon. Head to higher elevations above 2,000 feet where there is more moisture to see slopes brightened with desert lily, sand verbena and flowering Orcutt’s woody aster.

Flowers blooming in Death Valley in early March.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

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Death Valley

Experiencing its best bloom year since 2016, Death Valley is best visited sooner rather than later particularly in lower elevations. Expect desert sunflowers, gold poppies, dandelions and a number of other small, low-to-the-ground flowers.