The Riots

I´m not a great historian, so for really good information regarding what I´m going to share, I suggest you google the topic.

For sometime, there had been some conversation about the sovereignty of the Canal Zone. We Americans had only ever been granted accommodations while we worked on the Canal. We were in no way given the land, yet we managed to establish our own mini-government, complete with police and courts, etc. We even managed to practice the same discrimination here that we´d been practicing in the states. Anyway, in the early 1960´s, Panamanians wanted their flag to fly at the same status as the US flag, and President Kennedy had agreed to that. In January, 1964, American students at Balboa High School here in Panama protested that and flew only the American flag at their school. Panamanian students protested that, and in the course of that protest, a Panamanian flag was torn, and riots ensued. I could have this wrong, but I believe the riots lasted 3 days, at the end of which 20 Panamanian students and 4 US soldiers were dead. These riots took place on what the Americans call ¨Calle 4 de Julio¨ (4th of July St), and the Panamanians call Avenida de los Martires (Avenue of the Martyrs). These riots were the catalyst for opening negotiations that ultimately resulted in control of the Canal being returned to the Republic of Panama.



The incident made the front page of Life Magazine. The other photos are of statues representing the students who climbed flag poles during the riots to fly their flag and of a plaque that relates, in Spanish, some of what I´ve shared above. I´ve only seen the one pole but am told that there are others along this same street.