And when the OAS under an extremely courageous secretary 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 certainly much of the Caribbean Basin has actually not gone along with that. And if you line up the votes, who voted in favor and who abstained, you can do a quite easy one for one contrast based upon who is a member of Petrocaribe. And so the ramification of your question I think is area on, you know, and that is why I think when we talk about the Caribbean in Washington, frequently we consider it in the timeshare donations to charity context of, you know, island nations or programs or social advancement, and all of these are extremely, extremely essential concerns.
And the dividends settle down the road when Venezuela itself remains in the spotlight of the international neighborhood. Then they have friends that they can count 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 frankly that we can find out, and I think we can build towards reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I agree 100 percent with Eric. Venezuela stepped in at a time that was very essential for much of the region and now the region is really much paying the rate, whether it owes money or other areas related 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 likewise. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, definitely, absolutely. And so 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 ways to increase sustainable energy, whether it is through natural gas or getting the area less based on Petrocaribe and able to make these switches to new kinds of energy is going to make a huge distinction. Mr. Sires. See, I do not believe things take place terminating timeshare contract by accident.
The other issue that I have is the substantial increase of China in this area. You understand, we appear to be put to a lull of sleep or something due to the fact that everybody seems to relocate and then we respond. And we don't appear to catch these things up until something like this happens, you know, like Venezuela. So sadly, you understand, given that I have actually been here we have been pushing-- and I know Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you understand, this is an essential area for us. It is a crucial area for America and we actually need to concentrate.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they can be found in and they toss cash, you understand, at these little countries, which in truth they can't afford not to accept the money. So just how much of influence exists now of the Chinese? And I know it is growing, however-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is in fact really fascinating to watch the way China has kind of entered into the area and the kinds of projects. In some cases it is a sports stadium - Which of the following can be described as involving direct finance. I believe the recent, the Baha Mar fiasco in the Bahamas, you have seen the Chinese Government been available in in a manner that the U.S.
If a Chinese developer enters into a nation in the area they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the staff members. Ms. Yearwood. And the workers. Therefore you have actually efficiently got a plan that the U.S - What was the reconstruction finance corporation. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other reasons, the U.S. can not complete in regards to the kinds of 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 locations, however what Baha Mar has actually shown us is that it can develop a very tight spot for the nations where they go.
Farnsworth. I think Sally raises a truly fascinating and essential point in this context. What jobs can i get with a finance degree. You know, the Chinese or Venezuelan model is a state-led model, so the capital of the nation, the leaders in the nation can state this is what we are going to do. We are going to produce Petrocaribe or we are going to develop a sports stadium or we are going Continue reading to state that we are going to establish these jobs, whereas the U.S. design is personal sector-led model. And the detach here is that we are dealing with smaller economies, island countries, and in contrast of other financial investment opportunities in other nations in Latin America, much less worldwide, these are economies that normally aren't going to draw that large financial investment other than in a couple sectors like tourist like we have actually been discussing. What the onus has to be is to find ways to clear and develop a smooth financial space in between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that private sector capital can work. There are opportunities. Last but not least, I would say that the Caribbean is becoming a a lot more intricate area due to the fact that of the modifications in policy toward Cuba, the cross-cutting trade arrangements such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we need to believe of the Caribbean now in a wider sense. In regard to Haiti, I think really important is its ongoing combination with the English-speaking Caribbean, since these are well developed democracies and it is an economic area which holds chances for Haiti and there is now quite a lot of Caribbean financial investment entering into Haiti and vice versa.