Blades mulls another run at Panama’s presidency

PANAMA. Departing Tourism Minister Ruben Blades, 60, who plans to resume his musical career after leaving his post June 30, does not rule out running for president again after an unsuccessful bid in 1994.

“Now I have administrative experience, which I did not have in 1994,” Blades said in an interview with Bloomberg earlier this week.

“Everything is a five cushion shot, you can have the ball in front of the hole but you can’t put it in there. This is the way bureaucracy is conceived.”

But any such future aspirations will be temporarily put on hold, as he steps into the private world again.

Blades, whose last album, “Mundo,” won the 2002 Grammy for world music, plans to go back to his musical career, after spending the last five years without playing the guitar at home although he made commercials and had a European tour.

“I can’t afford another five years,” said Blades, adding he is returning to the private sector after accumulating debt as a public official. “I’ve got to do some of my own things.”

The minister said he won’t take any official position in the next government but will help his successor, Salomon Shamah.

“I don’t split my passions, because it makes me half or a third of what I am,” Blades said. “I have to concentrate in order to carry it through.”

During the interview, Blades touched on foreign affairs, saying Cuba would join the Organization of American States after “a lot of emotion” passes. On June 3, the OAS voted to readmit Cuba after 47 years.

“It’s a matter of processing. Eventually we will see a different scenario in Cuba.”