in Salinas and Gu�nica drew commercial and agricultural activity away from Ponce
� The decadence in coffee plantations in the 1920s
� The loss of the Spanish and Cuban markets
"The Spanish American War had paralyzed the trade of the Island of Puerto Rico and when Spain surrendered the sovereignty she closed her [Spain's] ports to Puerto Rican products, while the American occupation of Cuba destroyed the only other important market. As a result, the trade in coffee and tobacco was ruined, and nothing was provided by the Americans to take their place."
This prompted the residents to initiate measures to attract economic activity back into the city. Also, a solid manufacturing industry surged that still remains. Examples of this are the Ponce Cement, Puerto Rico Iron Works, Vassallo Industries, and Destiler�a Serrall�s.
On March 21, 1937, a peaceful march was organized by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party to celebrate the 64th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and protest the incarceration of their leader, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, in a federal prison on charges of sedition.
The march turned into a bloody event when the Insular Police, a force somewhat resembling the National Guard of the typical U.S. state and which answered to U.S.-appointed governor Blanton Winship, opened fire upon unarmed and defenseless members of the Cadets of the Republic and bystanders.
When the shooting stopped, nineteen civilians had been killed or mortally wounded. Over two hundred others were badly wounded. Many were shot on their backs while running away, including a seven-year-old girl named Georgina Maldonado who was �killed through the back while running to a nearby church." An American Civil Liberties Union report declared the event a massacre, and it has since been known as the Ponce massacre. It was the largest massacre in Puerto Rican history.
The history of this event can be viewed
