In Reply to: Westminster to rename street after Charlie Kirk posted by DSCBruin on November 13, 2025 at 14:57:34
I met him, many years ago, when I was a small boy.
Rafael Trujillo, the murderous dictator of The Dominican Republic, was also present in that meeting; as was Munoz Marin, the governor of Puerto Rico. This was in 1959 or perhaps 1960.
To be fair, I merely tagged along when my father took me to the DR for a business meeting. The meeting was a high-level confab between the three sugar-producing countries in the Caribbean. My father was the only real businessman in that session, but those bosses needed him.
My mother took care of me and my brother while my father met with the EL Jefe and the other kingpins.
The only thing I remember from that trip were the constant security check-points everywhere we went. Years later, my parents liked to joke about how the three leaders needed my father to be the fourth for a game of bridge (bridge was popular in those days). In truth, of course, the sugar industry was vitally important to the economies of all three countries, and my father's expertise was essential.
For me, the visit to the Dominican Republic was just another fun trip. Ah, the memories...