my girlfriend doesn’t understand my affection for ruben blades. alex thinks ruben blades is a hypocrite and communist. he became rich and famous in the u.s, then cheered and danced when the u.s military was forced out of panama. of course, alex’s animus didn’t stop her from singing along to “amor y control” last night.

i’d been anticipating ruben blades appearance at panama city’s carnival for weeks. when he finally hit the stage wearing a sombrero tipico, and jacket emblazoned with the panamanian flag, i could see my hero had aged. he may have put on a couple of pounds and needed glasses to read the sheet music, but he hadn’t lost any of his charm and charisma.

the carnival crowd was huge and appreciative. blades sang many of their favorites, “decisiones”, “plastico”, “buscando guayaba”. in particular, “pedro navaja,” the song about the thief with the gold tooth was well received. many in the crowd knew the words and sang along.

“patria.” is one of my favorites. alex hates it because blades sang it the night the u.s hit the road. she feels betrayed. i don’t think many people understand the depth of passion many poor panamanians feel for the u.s. given a choice between trusting the u.s, or the wealthy panamanian elite, they’ll choose the u.s every time.

i tell her i trust ruben blades, and i usually agree with most of what he has to say. i think he’d make an excellent president of panama. i just don’t think he’s corrupt enough to get elected.

blades has degrees from the u of panama and harvard. that means he’s better educated than most everyone in the current government. he’s already rich, and has given up big money to work in panama. so he’s willing to put his country ahead of his selfish interests, and he’s unlikely to continue panama’s tradition of corruption.

the man loves his country. if ruben blades has mixed feelings about the u.s, that only demonstrates his uncommon good sense.

anyone with the sense to show up last night was rewarded with two hours of musical excellence. i tried my hand at salsa, sucked down a couple of balboa beers, and when ruben blades finally finished up with a flag waving version of “patria,” i was not the only one with tears in my eyes.

“Every time something goes wrong (in Panama), we blame the North Americans. My position here is: Of course they take advantage politically. So will any country in the first world. That’s the way it’s been. But every (third-world) country that finds itself in that position is selling from the inside. It’s our corruption that allows them to do what they do. It’s our inability to articulate, on a national scale, the type of behavior that will justify our screams for justice and fair treatment.” ruben blades

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