Chavez Ailing as He Completes 17th Day of Fast

Appearing solemn and extremely fatigued, Cesar Chavez completed the 17th day of a fast to protest the use of certain pesticides by attending Mass Wednesday night at the United Farm Workers union office here.

The 61-year-old farm labor leader, who began the water-only fast at midnight July 16, was diagnosed Monday as having a uric acid level three times above normal--a condition that could lead to complications including kidney failure, UFW officials said.

“We have a doctor monitoring him every day,” said UFW spokeswoman Lorena Parlee. “His spirits are good, but we are concerned that his condition can change at any moment.”

Chavez managed a weary smile for about 500 supporters who had come to share the religious ceremony held inside a union meeting hall.

At one point Chavez’s wife, Helen, draped a pale sweater over her husband’s shoulders as Chavez clasped his hands in prayer.

On Monday, Dr. Augusto Ortiz, a physician and medical director at the Rural Health Office of the University of Arizona, determined that Chavez’s uric acid level had reached dangerous levels.

Parlee said that Ortiz also warned Chavez of the gravity of the situation.

“Ortiz said all he could do was tell him about the danger,” Parlee said. “But you cannot tell someone who believes so much in what they are doing to stop.”

Parlee said that Chavez has not said how long he will continue fasting. He fasted for 25 days in both 1968 and 1972.

Chavez, who has avoided interviews with reporters, has been staying in a small room in a farm workers’ retirement village near the union office here.