And when the OAS under a really bold secretary general, Luis Almagro, tries to bring the institution towards acknowledging that Venezuela is no longer in compliance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, he is not getting the complete support of the hemisphere, and undoubtedly much of the Caribbean Basin has not gone along with that. And if you line up the votes, who voted in favor and who abstained, you can do a pretty easy one for one contrast based upon who is a member of Petrocaribe. And so the implication of your concern I believe is area on, you know, and that is why I believe when we discuss the Caribbean in Washington, frequently we think of it in the context of, you know, island countries or programs or social advancement, and all of these are extremely, very important concerns.
And the dividends pay off down the road when Venezuela itself remains in the spotlight of the international neighborhood. Then they have pals that they can count on and it pays dividends for them - What do you need to finance a car. So I believe that at the end of the day that is a lesson frankly that we can find out, and I believe we can construct towards reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I concur 100 percent with Eric. Venezuela actioned in at a time that was really important for much of the area and now the region is very much paying the price, whether it is in financial obligation or other locations connected to votes and other requirements that they do as a result 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, absolutely, absolutely. Therefore I think to the point, we are at an important juncture now with the expense of energy being what it is with the U.S. energy supply increasing and the region looking at methods to increase sustainable energy, whether it is through natural gas or getting the area less depending on Petrocaribe and able to make these switches to brand-new kinds of energy is going to make a big difference. Mr. Sires. See, I don't believe things happen by mishap.
The other issue that I have is the considerable increase of China in this area. You know, we seem to be put to a lull of sleep or something since everybody appears to relocate and after that we respond. And we do not appear to capture these things till something like this takes place, you understand, like Venezuela. So sadly, you understand, given that I have been here we have been pressing-- and I know Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you know, this is a crucial area for us. It is an essential area for America and we truly must concentrate.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they can be found in and they throw cash, you understand, at these little nations, which in reality they can't manage not to accept the money. So just how much of impact is there now of the Chinese? And I know it is growing, however-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is really extremely intriguing to watch the way China has type of come into the area and the types of projects. In some cases it is a sports arena - How do you finance a car. I think the current, the Baha Mar fiasco in the Bahamas, you have actually seen the Chinese Government can be found in in a method that the U.S.
If a Chinese developer enters a country in the area they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Federal government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the staff members. Ms. Yearwood. And the staff members. Therefore you have effectively got a plan that the U.S - What does finance a car mean. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other factors, the U.S. can not contend in regards to the kinds of investment that they have the ability to take in without kind of having to do the due diligence behind it. And it is extremely welcome in a great deal of locations, however what Baha Mar has actually revealed us is that it can create an extremely challenging situation for the nations where they go.
Farnsworth. I think Sally raises a truly fascinating and important point in this context. What happened to household finance corporation. You know, the Chinese or Venezuelan design is a state-led model, so the capital of the country, the leaders in the country can state this is what we are going to do. We are going to produce Petrocaribe or we are going to construct a sports stadium or we are going to declare that we are going to establish these tasks, whereas the U.S. model is private sector-led design. And the detach here is that we are handling smaller sized economies, island nations, and in contrast of other investment opportunities in other nations in Latin America, much less around the world, these are economies that typically aren't going to draw that big financial investment except in a couple sectors like tourism like we have been speaking about. What the onus has to be is to find methods to clear and establish a seamless financial space between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that economic sector capital can work. There are opportunities. Finally, I would state that the Caribbean is becoming a a lot more intricate location whats time share since of the changes in policy towards Cuba, right to use timeshare the cross-cutting trade arrangements such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we have to believe of the Caribbean now in a wider sense. In regard to Haiti, I think really crucial is its continued combination with the English-speaking Caribbean, since these are well developed democracies and it is a financial location which holds opportunities for Haiti and there is now best timeshare presentation deals las vegas rather a great deal of Caribbean investment going into Haiti and vice versa.