National Day of Martyrs in Panama (09/01)

National Martyrs' Day was established in the country in memory of the events of 1964. On January 9, the patriotic demonstration ended in unjustified cruelty.

About two hundred students and students with the flag of Panama marched along the Panama Canal Zone. By all estimates, this should have been a peaceful protest against the presence of US troops.

It must be said that for the Panamanians, liberation from the US military presence was a matter of historical justice for many years, so conflicts constantly arose between the residents of Panama and the North American military.

The US military responded to the peaceful protest of students on January 9, 1964 with fire. Hundreds of students were wounded and more than twenty were killed.

In memory of those events, a monument to the Heroes of the Panamanian Nation was erected on the former «border», and in honor of those who fell on the Panama Canal, the country's authorities established Martyrs' Day.

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