Seemed more cuban than dominican

I'm watching it right now and can tell you that all the exterior and some interior scenes representing the DR were shot in Havana, which exists today just as dilapidated as the film reveals. In particular, the scene in which Muriel meets Cruz Ayala in that old house, where she attempts to talk with the old woman and is told she is too sick, that house is located in the Vedado section of Havana, a formerly high-end or upper class neighborhood of primarily professional and wealthy families during pre-Castro days. Of course, the vintage cars give it away, for these cars do not roll around the streets of any town or city in the DR -- they're up to date with their cars! The accent of the "local Dominicans" is also Cuban, because the actors in the DR locales, for the most part, are all Cubans.

The fellow that plays the former DR dictator Gen. Trujillo is Enrique Almirante, an established and well-known Cuban film, TV, and stage actor who's been around in Cuba since the early 1950s. I am originally from Havana and Enrique used to live in the same apartment building I grew up in. I remember him well from his early Cuban TV days, usually playing some action hero in weekly serials made at the local CMQ-TV studios. His first non-Cuban film role was a relatively insignificant, but highly visible one. He appeared in the very first scene of "Our Man in Havana" (starring Alec Guiness, Maureen O'Hara, Burl Ives, Ernie Kovacs) playing the role of a man who is out looking "to score" with local prostitutes. He appears in that opening scene wearing a striped polo-shirt and dark slacks. He appears one more time at the end of the film playing basically the same role.

I'm also not sure why the local DR scenes could not be shot in the DR. even if the DR lacked a minimal film industry that would provide support for the filming, their proximity to Miami, Mexico City, as well as Havana, would have allowed them to tap into the resources of these other cities for any support needed.