Rubén Blades: 25 Grammys, Harvard Law, and ICE 'Murder'
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- Rubén Blades, 77, has collected 25 Grammy Awards (13 Latin, 12 mainstream) and is cited as an influence by Rosalía and Bad Bunny; he made a guest appearance at Bad Bunny's 2025 Puerto Rico concert.
- Blades served as Panama's minister of tourism from 2004 to 2009, ran for president of Panama in 1994 (finishing third), and holds a Harvard law degree he calls the hardest thing he's ever done.
- At Fania Records in 1970s New York, Blades partnered with Willie Colón to reshape salsa with social commentary, producing 'Pedro Navaja' — now one of the most famous songs in Latin music.
- Blades has appeared in more than 40 films without formal training, including The Two Jakes alongside Jack Nicholson and a long run on Fear the Walking Dead as a Salvadorean secret agent turned barber turned zombie killer.
- His next film, Campeón Gabacho directed by Jonás Cuarón, won the audience award at the 2026 SXSW festival and follows a Mexican immigrant's story.
- Blades called the ICE killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis 'murder,' saying immigration 'gets used as an excuse to justify the unjustifiable,' and labeled Donald Trump 'a narcissistic charlatan who wants to destroy democracy and become an emperor like on Mongo.'
Why it matters: Blades' political comments carry unusual weight: with 25 Grammys, a Harvard law degree, and a former Panama tourism ministry on his resume, he speaks as a credentialed Latin American insider. His 'murder' verdict on the ICE killings and his 'narcissistic charlatan' label for Trump — from a man who says he has 'seen military dictatorships rise' — frames current US enforcement through a regional historical lens that most celebrity commentary lacks.
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