Remembering Panama’s 1964 schoolboy martyrs
The lowering of the national flag to half mast on Wednesday in the Plaza Independencia, in Casco Viejo, by President, Juan Carlos Varela, accompanied by Cabinet Ministers and relatives of the victims, was the first of multiple commemorative acts to mark the martyrdom of high school students on January 9, 1964 which ultimately led to control of the US-built canal passing to Panama.
The president and entourage later paid tribute at The Garden of Peace .