[MNWanger]

Was in the DR a couple years ago (Punta Cana). You will see "cuban" cigars there. Basically all of the ones I saw were fakes. Plenty of them on the beach, in glass-top boxes. If you can talk them down to a good price, it may be worth the novelty of having a glasstop box of Cohibas. I had a ~7yr old one (Fauxhiba) a few weeks back, and it was actually pretty good.

As it is, the price of cigars at the resort was pretty high (and they were only Dominicans). If you do an upgraded service at a resort, you may be able to get cigars for free. I brought my own to smoke there, anyways.

As for Fuente having influence...not any more than any other manufacturer. Makers there get a tax break for exporting their goods. To sell them in the country, they have to re-import them to the DR (odd, but that's what I remember reading) to sell them, which drives up the price. And be aware of fake Fuentes there, too.

Hope that helped.