Answer:
Very much alive. See a bio page at http://www.maestravida.com/RBbioeng.html. He spent 2004-2009 as Minister of Tourism in his home country of Panama, but has returned to film and music. He will be in the upcoming film "Cristiada" with Andy Garcia and Eva Langoria, and has played concerts throughout the Americas as part of his Todos Vuelven Tour, reuniting the legendary Seis del Solar/Son del Solar.