La Plaza de Zacate by nomorewars
Billed the largest Mexican marketplace outside of Mexico, El Mercado is a world of year-round festivities, where the lively music of the mariachis serenade & the odor of Enchiladas will drive you mad with hunger.Even more fascinating, this area was known as La Plaza de Zacate. It was an area where unemployed workers & families would meet, socialists would give speeches on the plight of the workers, & communists would hold discussions on how to organize the workers. During the "Red Scare" of 1919-1921, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer used FBI agents to conduct raids across the United States to locate and arrest suspected Communists and their sympathizers. The largest raid occurred in January 1920, when 6,000 alleged Communists were arrested, many without warrants, in over thirty-three cities in the United States. San Antonio was one of these cities. The FBI & local law enforcement officials stormed onto the premises of La Plaza de Zacate, rounding up scores of suspected communists, socialists & anarchists. Many of the arrested were Mexican nationals &, due to their alleged adherence to Marxist principles, they were deported to Mexico without trial or due process of law.
Today, there is no tangible remnant of La Plaza de Zacate, as the infrastructure was raised & the grounds were "modernized". Even if you attempt to listen closely there are no whispers of what had once been, as the cries of the vendors have overwhelmed the echoes of the past.Prices for merchandise will vary depending on what you want. Most things are reasonable but the products imported from Mexico are a little bit outrageous. You can actually save yourself some money by actually purchasing these products-rugs, furniture, etc.-from the local flea markets.
