The patriotic gesture, with clashes between students of the National Institute and the inhabitants of the Canal Zone, left 21 dead and hundreds injured.

For some historians the date of January 9, 1964 is as relevant as November 3, 1903, when Panama seceded from Colombia, or November 28, 1821, when it gained independence from Spain.

That day, they say, was the boiling point of the grievances accumulated for generations, when the students decided to hoist the national emblem at the Colegio de Balboa, in the face of opposition from those who refused to comply with the agreement between the two countries that said that the flags should fly at the same time.

The repression was brutal and led the government of Roberto Chiari to break diplomatic relations with the United States, with the support of the international community, and to demand the repeal of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty.

The process of negotiations for a final solution was long and tortuous, but finally, in 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian head of State Omar Torrijos signed the treaties that guaranteed Panama’s sovereignty over the Canal, whose administration the Panamanians took over in 1999.

For many, it was a simple gesture of patriotism that ended days of bloody clashes and marked the first time in history that a Latin American country broke ties with Washington.

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