Hundreds of Panamanians demonstrated today to mark the anniversary of the bloody 1964 uprising against US rule in the Panama Canal. Some protesters set fire to an effigy of US President-elect Donald Trump, who recently threatened to annex the Panama Canal, not ruling out the use of force to do so.
More than 20 Panamanians, most of them students, were killed during the clashes that broke out in January 1964 in Panama and escalated when US security forces opened fire on demonstrators protesting US control of the canal. At least three US soldiers were also killed during the unrest.
Martyrs’ Day is celebrated every year on January 9. It is credited with paving the way for the ceding of control of the canal to Panama in late 1999. It also keeps the memory of the past alive at a time of heightened tension due to Trump’s inflammatory statements.
“The only hands that control the canal are Panamanian”
“Today we remember the sacrifice of our martyrs, but we also announce to the whole world that Panama is a sovereign country and the canal is ours,” said Sebastián Quiros, an 84-year-old retiree who participated as a student in the 1964 uprising.
“The blood that was shed will never be forgotten” and “Hands down from Panama” were some of the slogans chanted by the demonstrators on the march to the war memorial. Earlier, President Jose Raul Molino laid a wreath at the monument.
“The only hands that control the canal are Panamanian and that’s how it will continue to be,” Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha stressed, speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
Ivan Quintero, a 59-year-old university student who took part in the demonstration, sharply criticized the US president-elect, saying he “should learn to show respect” instead of issuing threats against Panama’s national sovereignty.
