And when the OAS under a very brave secretary basic, Luis Almagro, tries to bring the institution toward acknowledging that Venezuela is no longer in compliance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, he is not getting the full support of the hemisphere, and undoubtedly much of the Caribbean Basin has not accompanied 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 belongs to Petrocaribe. Therefore the ramification of your question I think is spot on, you understand, and that is why I think when we speak about the Caribbean in Washington, often we think of it in the context of, you know, island countries or programs or social development, and all of these are really, extremely important issues.
And the dividends pay off down the road when Venezuela itself is in the spotlight of the international neighborhood. Then they have friends that they can count on and it pays dividends for them - What is a consumer finance account. 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 develop toward reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I concur one hundred percent with Eric. Venezuela actioned in at a time that was really important for much of the region and now the region is quite paying the rate, whether it owes money or other areas associated with votes and other requirements that they do as an outcome of the-- Mr.
Increased expenses in energy too now. Ms. Yearwood. Sorry? Mr. Sires. A boost in the expense of energy likewise. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, absolutely, definitely. Therefore I believe to the point, we are at an essential juncture now with the expense of energy being what it is with the U.S. energy supply increasing and the region looking at ways to increase sustainable energy, whether it is through natural gas or getting the region less reliant on Petrocaribe and able to make these switches to new kinds of energy is going to make a substantial difference. Mr. Sires. See, I don't believe things happen by accident.
The other concern that I have is the considerable increase of China in this region. You know, we seem to be put to a lull of sleep or something because everybody seems to relocate and then we respond. And we don't seem to catch these things up until something like this happens, you know, like Venezuela. So sadly, 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 know, this is an important region for us. It is a crucial 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 know, at these little countries, which in reality they can't manage not to accept the cash. So just how much of impact exists jackie signing caused financial now of the Chinese? And I understand it is growing, but-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese impact, it is really very intriguing to enjoy the way China has type of come into the area and the kinds of tasks. Sometimes it is a sports arena - How to owner finance a home. I believe the current, the Baha Mar ordeal in the Bahamas, you have seen the Chinese Federal government come in in a way that the U.S.
If a Chinese developer enters into a country in the area they have the Chinese funding and the Chinese Federal government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the workers. Ms. Yearwood. And the workers. And so you have efficiently got a package that the U.S - What do you need to finance a car. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other factors, the U.S. can not complete in terms of the types of investment that they have the ability to take in without type of having to do the https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2020/04/13/nbj-reveals-the-2020-best-places-to-work-honorees.html due diligence behind it. And it is very welcome in a lot of locations, however what Baha Mar has actually revealed us is that it can create an extremely tough situation for the countries where they go.
Farnsworth. I believe Sally raises a truly intriguing and important point in this context. How to finance a franchise with no money. You know, the Chinese or Venezuelan design is a state-led model, so the capital of the country, the leaders in the nation can say this is what we are going to do. We are going to create Petrocaribe or we are going to develop a sports arena or we are going to state that we are going to develop these tasks, whereas the U.S. design is private sector-led design. And the detach here is that we are dealing with smaller economies, timeshare attorney reviews island nations, and in comparison of other investment opportunities in other countries in Latin America, much less worldwide, these are economies that usually aren't going to draw that big investment except in a couple sectors like tourist like we have actually been talking about. What the onus needs to be is to discover methods to clear and establish a smooth economic area between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that private sector capital can work. There are opportunities. Last but not least, I would state that the Caribbean is becoming a far more intricate area since of the modifications in policy toward Cuba, the cross-cutting trade agreements such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we need to think about the Caribbean now in a wider sense. In regard to Haiti, I believe really essential is its continued integration with the English-speaking Caribbean, because these are well developed democracies and it is an economic area which holds opportunities for Haiti and there is now quite a great deal of Caribbean financial investment going into Haiti and vice versa.