Panamanian Pandemonium: Ruben Blades: Musician, Actor, Activist

RUBEN BLADES, Panamanian musician and aspiring politician lately turned Hollywood actor, pulls from a pack the latest in a series of Merit Ultra Lights and ignites it with the still-burning stub of his last, nearly finished cigarette. His preferred attire - blue jeans, canvas shoes, and an untucked cotton shirt hung casually on his six-foot frame - reflects an open nature: He'll answer any question with unbridled enthusiasm.