And when the OAS under a really bold secretary basic, Luis https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191008005127/en/Wesley-Financial-Group-Relieves-375-Consumers-6.7 Almagro, attempts to bring the institution towards recognizing that Venezuela is no longer in compliance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, he is not getting the full assistance of the hemisphere, and certainly much of the Caribbean Basin has not supported that. And if you line up the votes, who enacted favor and who stayed away, you can do a pretty simple one for one contrast based on who belongs to Petrocaribe. And so the ramification of your concern I believe is spot on, you understand, and that is why I think when we speak about the Caribbean in Washington, usually we think of it in the context of, you know, island countries or programs or social advancement, and all of these are extremely, really crucial concerns.
And the dividends pay off down the road when Venezuela itself remains in the spotlight of the global community. Then they have pals that they can depend on and it pays dividends for them - What does ear stand for in finance. So I think that at the end of the day that is a lesson honestly that we can find out, and I think we can construct toward reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I agree one hundred percent with Eric. Venezuela stepped in at a time that was very important for much of the area and now the region is extremely much paying the price, whether it is in debt or other locations connected to votes and other requirements that they do as a result of the-- Mr.
Increased expenses in energy too now. Ms. Yearwood. Sorry? Mr. Sires. An increase in the cost of energy likewise. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, definitely, absolutely. Therefore I believe to the point, we are at a crucial juncture now with the expense of energy being what it is with the U.S. energy supply increasing and the region taking a look at ways to increase sustainable energy, whether it is through natural gas or getting the region less dependent on Petrocaribe and able to make these switches to brand-new kinds of energy is going to make a big distinction. Mr. Sires. See, I don't believe things take place by mishap.
The other issue that I have is the substantial boost of China in this area. You understand, we appear to be put to a lull of sleep or something because everybody seems to move in and then we react. And we don't appear to catch these things up until something like this takes place, you know, like Venezuela. So unfortunately, holidays timeshares you know, considering that I have actually been here we have been pressing-- and I know Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you understand, this is an important region for us. It is a crucial area for America and we actually should concentrate.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they are available in and they throw money, you understand, at these small nations, which in reality they can't manage not to accept the cash. So just how much of influence exists now of the Chinese? And I understand it is growing, but-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is actually really intriguing to enjoy the way China has sort of entered into the region and the types of projects. Sometimes it is a sports stadium - How to finance a house flip. I believe the recent, the Baha Mar debacle in the Bahamas, you have actually seen the Chinese Government been available in in a manner that the U.S.
If a Chinese developer enters into a country in the area they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the workers. Ms. Yearwood. And the workers. Therefore you have actually successfully got a plan that the U.S - What do you need to finance vacation timeshare a car. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other factors, the U.S. can not contend in regards to the types of financial investment that they are able to take in without type of needing to do the due diligence behind it. And it is really welcome in a lot of locations, however what Baha Mar has shown us is that it can create a really tight spot for the nations where they go.
Farnsworth. I think Sally raises a truly intriguing and important point in this context. How to finance a private car sale. You know, the Chinese or Venezuelan design is a state-led model, so the capital of the country, the leaders in the country can say this is what we are going to do. We are going to develop Petrocaribe or we are going to build a sports arena or we are going to state that we are going to develop these jobs, whereas the U.S. model is private sector-led design. And the detach here is that we are handling smaller sized economies, island countries, and in contrast of other investment opportunities in other countries in Latin America, much less around the world, these are economies that generally aren't going to draw that big investment except in a couple sectors like tourism like we have been discussing. What the onus needs to be is to discover methods to clear and develop a smooth financial space in between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that economic sector capital can work. There are chances. Finally, I would say that the Caribbean is ending up being a much more complicated location since of the modifications in policy towards Cuba, the cross-cutting trade contracts such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we have to consider the Caribbean now in a wider sense. In regard to Haiti, I think extremely important is its continued integration with the English-speaking Caribbean, since these are well developed democracies and it is an economic area which holds opportunities for Haiti and there is now rather a great deal of Caribbean investment entering into Haiti and vice versa.