Blades No to Panama Presidency - 08.08.2008

Singer, actor and current Panamanian Tourism Minister Ruben Blades said that happiness has to do with integrity and he ruled out running for the presidency in the next elections.

The author of "Pedro navaja" said last Sunday at a press conference in the capital of Tenerife, Santa Cruz, before appearing live in the city, that "if you think and do what you feel, you're happy."

After confirming that he does not belong to any political party - "my party is Panama" - he made it clear that he was not thinking of "being a candidate for the presidency."

"I want to end my tenure as minister of tourism and I have until June next year. Then I want to devote myself to other things, like archeology, one of my hobbies, and I think that in my country there are many things to discover," he added.

He also said that when he finishes his duties as tourism minister, he will rejoin his old band "Seis del Solar," with which he began his fruitful musical career in the 1980s.

With the formation of "Seis del Solar," which later changed its name to "Son del Solar," he recorded some of the landmark works of his musical career, including "Decisiones," "Buscando Amrrica," "Doble filo" and "Caminando."

Blades revealed that his aim as tourism minister is "to develop the sector within a sustainable framework."

According to the author of "Maestra vida," there are three key European countries for Panamanian tourism, primarily because of their air connections with the Central American country: Spain, Italy and The Netherlands.