On February 10, it was 32 years since Rufino Contreras was shot on a picketline at the Mario Saikhon Ranch during the 1979 Imperial Valley vegetable strike. In his eulogy for Rufino delivered during funeral services on February 14, 1979, at El Hoyo, across from the Mexican border in Calexico, Cesar Chavez said, “True wealth is not measured in money or status or power. It is measured in the legacy we leave behind for those we love and those we inspire. In that sense, Rufino is not dead. Wherever farm workers organize, stand up for their rights and strike for justice, Rufino Contreras is with them.”
Each of us who struggled with Rufino during that difficult strike decades ago and all of us in the farm worker movement today keep alive in our hearts the sacrifice made by Rufino. Cesar also said, “Those of us who mourn him today and bring him to his rest rededicate ourselves to the ideals for which he gave his life.”
In a letter to Rufino’s widow, Rosa Contreras, we noted that the men and women of the farm workers movement work hard every day to be true to the legacies of both Rufino and Cesar by helping to empower farm workers and all of our people who struggle in this wealthy land. Rosa and the Contreras family are in our thoughts and prayers as we remember Rufino and the rich legacy of love and inspiration he leaves behind.
Arturo S. Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America