A dispute between American and Panamanian high school students over which country’s flag to fly escalated into days of violence, leaving more than 20 people dead and shattering relations between the United States and Panama. The clash grew out of a struggle over who should control the Panama Canal and the U.S.-run Canal Zone that cut through the center of the nation.
This film traces the roots of that crisis, showing how Americans’ lives inside the Canal Zone fueled growing anger among Panamanians who lived outside the zone.
Drawing on eyewitness accounts and archival footage, the film shows how a symbolic fight over national identity became a turning point that reshaped diplomacy, amplified demands for sovereignty and eventually led to treaties that transferred control of the canal to Panama. The story helps explain why debates over American intervention and influence in Latin America still resonate today.
View transcript here.