January 9 is Martyrs’ Day every year in Panama. This is to commemorate what happened here January 9 1964. Long story short.
The Panama Canal was under US control which lead to some of the same racism here as in the US proper. US civil workers as well as military lived in the Canal Zone with much wealth and security and obnoxiousness. They were known as Zonians. US citizens. So there were flags. And eventually angst about flags.
In early 1963, President Kennedy agreed that flags of both Panama and the United States could be flown in the Zone. But then he was assassinated before the new idea could be applied. The then Governor of the Zone, Robert J. Fleming, decided that NO FLAGS would fly. This then lead to angst amongst the Zonians and trouble followed shortly after. Students at Balboa High School (Zonian school) raised a US flag. Students from a nearby Panamanian school crawled over the fence to try to raise a Panama flag on the same staff. Violence then quickly ensued where the Panamanian flag was torn. The exact story is rather sketchy but the rest of Panama was outraged at the treatment of the flag and riots erupted. Again, exact numbers are fuzzy. 22 or 24 or ? Panamanians were killed over the next three days as well as 4 US soldiers. So every year, Panama flags fly at half mast on January 9. The one I can see from my balcony is indeed at half staff.
Most businesses are closed today and it is a dry day. I got my hard seltzer yesterday. Many Panamanians will commemorate the students by walking the path across the then fence. There will also be speeches and the like.
All of this violence did eventually get the Canal handed back to Panama. Silver cloud lining stuff I guess. But any deaths over the symbolism for a piece of cloth seems rather futile to me in the short term. You might remember the protests here in Panama last October/November. The criminal who shot and killed two protestors was a 70 something Zonian. I wondered about his awareness of January 9, 1964. Yet I still feel safe here. Much more than in the US. I would go out today but there is nothing open so why bother. But on a daily basis I think of RODNEY KING saying, ,“I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?”
This is a pretty good summary Martyrs’ Day
https://nationaltoday.com/panamas-martyrs-day/