The technician from Paramount flew down that evening to Santo Domingo bringing a roll of specially prepared film for a private screening for El Presidente. The old palace had a basement room that used to present films to El Caudillo, General Trujillo, though some thought it was a place for Johnny Abbes to wreak terror on opponents of the regime as the then chief of security.

The film was a special presentation commissioned by Paramount to depict the wonders of the Dominican Republic from the golf courses along the sea to the mountains where to this day Japanese expats grew mushrooms and to the beaches of Sosua where descendants of the Jewish families that fled from oppression set up stakes and created a culture of farming and food production.

The folks in Washington were concerned about the deteriorating eyesight of the Dominican President who at the time was the glue that held the nation together.

Joaquin Balaguer is woven into the history of this island nation just across the straits from Castro and his Cubans. He served as a Vice President under Trujillo and was elected in his own right as the savior of the Republic. A scholar and a poet he ruled over his nation with guile and cunning keeping the generals under his gaze. An ardent catholic he lived alone and near his highly devoted sister.

If something were to happen to the health of El Presidente the nation would be thrown in chaos. And a breeding ground for the Castro revolutionaries who once tried to invade the nation.

When the call came from the US ambassador Robert Hurwich I was quite surprised. Can you come to the embassy as I have an important mission to discuss with you?

So over a gin and tonic and some fried banana chips I was asked what I could do to provide an insight into the health of El Presidente since I had been meeting with him off and on on the Dominican sugar quota for the US which was critical to the local economy and was in a position to observe el Presidente closely.

 Out of the blue I remembered the film about the Dominican that we had commissioned from Paramount and produced by a close friend of my then wife. The idea was to screen this colorful film for El Presidente in a private intimate setting where observation could take place without being noticed. I would be sitting next to him in the screening room within this intimate setting.

When the unmarked US jet took off in a separate runway at the Santo Domingo International Airport it was headed for Miami. The passengers were in their seats and buckled in for the short hop over the ocean. There was El Presidente, his sister and an American doctor by their sides. The destination : an eye clinic in Coral Gables noted for the treatment of complex diseases of the orbital structure.

  

The film was full of colorful depictions of life in La Republica. From the golf courses called Teeth of the Dog to the ballet school in Santiago to the nickel mines owned by Falconbridge. El Presidente gazed at the screen with little emotion as if he was seeing was a blank until....the screen exploded with red heat as the nickel was smelted into ore.

That one moment was all we needed. El Jefe was visually impaired. If word got out it would ruin his presidency and lead to a socialist takeover spurred by Castro.

I duly reported the event to the US Ambassador and so as to avoid a hemispheric crisis the trip to the Florida clinic was speedily arranged.

Good news. The operation was a success and calm was restored to this land of Columbus.