Former President Bill Clinton surprised to learn that the Panama hat he tried on in Panama City was made in Cuenca; he checks out cigars too

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton seemed surprised on Tuesday when a reporter told him that the Panama hat he was trying on for size in Panama City was actually made in Ecuador.

Former President Bill Clinton trying on Panama hats in Panama City.

Clinton is wrapping up a three-country Latin America tour in Lima, Peru today, where he is visiting a project that provides indigenous women with training to run small businesses. In addition to Panama and Peru, Clinton also stopped in El Salvador.

When Clinton was informed about the origin of the hat he was buying, he looked at the hat band, saying, “Made in Cuenca, Ecuador. I’ll be darned.”

A focus of Clinton’s trip is to visit programs that provide poor communities with projects that can make them self sufficient and offer goods for sale that otherwise would be hard or impossible to find. He is also touring alternative energy facilities that provide electricity to isolated villages.

In El Salvador, he toured a small cigar-making operation. He seemed particularly interested in the larger models, lighting up an El Presidente and an El Gigante. “I like mine strong and sturdy,” the former president told reporters.