News fromPanama's independence day

My little brother, Richard Hall (an economist), is with the PeaceCorps in Panama... today is one of Panama's Independence Days:

Today is an Independence Day in Panama. In a normal country, I would use the definite article. Panama has three Independence Days, all in November. Nov. 3 celebrates independence from Colombia, the day in 1904 when Panama declared independence and the U.S. immediately recognized Panama and stationed warships off the coast to dissuade Colombia from trying to retain possession of the isthmus (Colombia was making too many demands in the canal negotiations). Today, Nov 10th, celebrates La Grita, when the city of Los Santos declared independence from Spain before the rest of the country had decided to do it. Nov. 28 is official Independence from Spain, when Panama declared independence from Spain and then later decided to remain part of Colombia. Panamanians celebrate all of these holidays with big parades, since Panamanians love parades. Personally, I find the endless stream of school bands boring as hell.