And when the OAS under a really brave secretary grand prix tickets nashville general, Luis Almagro, attempts to bring the organization toward recognizing that Venezuela is no longer in compliance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, he is not getting the full support of the hemisphere, and indeed much of the Caribbean Basin has not supported that. And if you line up the votes, who voted in favor and who abstained, you can do a quite simple one for one contrast based upon who belongs to Petrocaribe. Therefore the implication of your question I believe is area on, you know, and that is why I believe when we speak about the Caribbean in Washington, oftentimes we believe about it in the context of, you understand, island countries or programs or social development, and all of these are very, really crucial issues.
And the dividends settle down the road when Venezuela itself remains in the spotlight of the worldwide community. Then they have buddies that they can depend on and it pays dividends for them - Which one of the following occupations best fits into the corporate area mywfg online of finance?. So I believe that at the end of the day that is a lesson honestly that we can find out, and I believe we can build towards reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I agree 100 percent with Eric. Venezuela stepped in at a time that was really important for much of the area and now the region is extremely much paying the cost, whether it owes money or other locations connected to votes and other requirements that they do as an outcome of the-- Mr.
Increased costs in energy too now. Ms. Yearwood. Sorry? Mr. Sires. An increase in the expense of energy also. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, definitely, absolutely. Therefore I believe to the point, we are at an essential juncture now with the cost of energy being what it is with the U.S. energy supply increasing and the area looking at methods 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 huge distinction. Mr. Sires. See, I don't believe things happen by accident.
The other concern that I have is the significant boost of China in this region. You understand, we seem to be put to a lull of sleep or something since everybody seems Helpful resources to relocate and after that we respond. And we do not seem to capture these things until something like this takes place, you understand, like Venezuela. So sadly, you understand, given that I have been here we have been pushing-- and I understand Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you know, this is an important region for us. It is an important region for America and we actually need to focus.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they come in and they toss money, you understand, at these little countries, which in truth they can't pay for not to accept the cash. So how much of impact exists now of the Chinese? And I understand it is growing, however-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is in fact really interesting to watch the method China has sort of come into the area and the kinds of projects. In some cases it is a sports stadium - How to finance building a home. I believe the current, the Baha Mar fiasco in the Bahamas, you have seen the Chinese Government been available in in a way that the U.S.
If a Chinese developer enters into a country in the region they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Federal government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the employees. Ms. Yearwood. And the staff members. Therefore you have successfully got a package that the U.S - What is the difference between accounting and finance. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other factors, the U.S. can not complete in terms of the kinds of financial investment that they are able to take in without sort of needing to do the due diligence behind it. And it is very welcome in a lot of places, but what Baha Mar has revealed us is that it can create a really tight spot for the nations where they go.
Farnsworth. I believe Sally raises an actually interesting and essential point in this context. How to find the finance charge. You understand, the Chinese or Venezuelan design is a state-led design, 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 create Petrocaribe or we are going to build a sports stadium or we are going to state that we are going to develop these jobs, whereas the U.S. model is private sector-led model. And the disconnect here is that we are dealing with smaller sized economies, island nations, and in comparison of other investment chances in other nations in Latin America, much less worldwide, these are economies that usually aren't going to draw that large investment other than in a couple sectors like tourist like we have actually been discussing. What the onus needs to be is to find methods to clear and establish a seamless financial area in between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that personal sector capital can work. There are chances. Finally, I would say that the Caribbean is becoming a a lot more complicated area because of the changes in policy toward Cuba, the cross-cutting trade contracts such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we have to believe of the Caribbean now in a broader sense. In regard to Haiti, I believe really essential is its ongoing integration with the English-speaking Caribbean, since these are well established democracies and it is an economic area which holds opportunities for Haiti and there is now quite a great deal of Caribbean investment going into Haiti and vice versa.