POP/ROCK - Dec. 30, 1991

Candidate Blades: Singer Ruben Blades spent last week planning his campaign for the presidency of Panama, the Dallas Morning News reported Sunday. The election is more than two years away, but Blades has already formed a political party, according to the newspaper. Blades, 43, is a lawyer in addition to being Panama’s best-known entertainer. He helped create the salsa sound of the 1970s and 1980s; many of his songs have an undercurrent of political protest. The Grammy winner has also appeared in such movies as “The Milagro Beanfield War” and “The Super.”