Martyrs' Day (Panama) - Background

Background

After Panama gained independence from Colombia in 1903 with the assistance of the U.S., there was much resentment amongst Panamanians as a result of the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty, which ceded control of the Panama Canal Zone to the U.S. "in perpetuity" in exchange for large initial and yearly payments. The Canal Zone, primarily consisting of the Panama Canal, was a strip of land running from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean and had its own police, post offices, courts, television and radio stations. The Canal Zone became U.S. territory (de facto if not de jure).

In January 1963, U.S President John F. Kennedy agreed to fly Panama's flag alongside the U.S. flag at all non-military sites in the Canal Zone where the US flag was flown. However, Kennedy was assassinated before his orders were carried out. One month after Kennedy's death, Panama Canal Zone Governor Robert J. Fleming, Jr. issued a decree limiting Kennedy's order. The U.S. flag would no longer be flown outside Canal Zone schools, police stations, post offices or other civilian locations where it had been flown, but Panama's flag would not be flown either. The governor's order infuriated many Zonians, who interpreted it as a U.S. renunciation of sovereignty over the Canal Zone .

In response, outraged Zonians began demonstrating with the U.S. flag. After the first U.S. flag to be raised at Balboa High School was taken down by school officials, the students walked out of class, raised another flag, and posted guards to prevent its removal. Most Zonian adults sympathized with the student demonstrators.

In what was to prove a miscalculation of the volatility of the situation, Governor Fleming departed for a meeting in Washington, D.C. on the afternoon of January 9, 1964. For him and many others, the U.S.-Panama relationship was at its peak. The exploding situation caught up with the Governor while he was still en route to the U.S. over the Caribbean.