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lifestyleAlso in this section: Bright lights and blackoutsEaster sunrise service at the Afro-Antillean Museum Easter Procession in San Carlos The Way of the Cross in Pese Panama Historical Society meets April 2 Canadian Association Calendar Cayuco season records A break from winter with rebels in Burma Cool Internet Sites Scenes from the end of the Ocean-to-Ocean Cayuco Race Canadians and friends gather in Veracruz Abou Saad Shrine raises funds for kids with special medical needs Howard University students do charity work in Penonome Sunrise from Punta Paitilla El Polvorin Pink Scallop Ceviche
What Cinco de Mayo means to Panamanians photo by Eric Jackson
Have you heard of Cinco de Mayo as it is celebrated in the Mexican-American communities of the United States? It's a very important day for grocers who sell avocados up there, what with all of that guacamole. To those celebrating their Mexican heritage, it's the anniversary of the smashing defeat handed to the European pretender to a purported Mexican throne, Maximilian Habsburg, by the forces of President Benito Juárez.
In Panama we have Plaza Cinco de Mayo and a firefighters' parade on May 5 for an unrelated reason. On May 5, 1914, near the site of the present-day Hospital Santa Fe, Panama's bomberos (firefighters) were battling a blaze in a row of wooden buildings, and didn't know that in one of them there was an illegal fireworks factory. The blast took the lives of 11 young bomberos.
The emblem of the Cuerpo de Bomberos de Panama contains the words
disciplina, honor, and abnegacion --- all of
these being English cognizants for those unilingual readers who haven't
figured it out --- and these are the values celebrated at Plaza Cinco de
Mayo, where Panama City's Avenida Central turns into a pedestrian mall. In
next year's election campaign the largest political rallies will likely
take place in this plaza, as it is a symbol of heroic public service to
which every slimy politician would like to have his or her image linked.
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