And when the OAS under a very courageous secretary general, Luis Almagro, tries to bring the organization towards 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 stayed away, you can do a quite simple one for one contrast based upon who is a member of Petrocaribe. Therefore the ramification of your question I believe is spot on, you know, and that is why I think when we speak about the Caribbean in Washington, frequently we believe about it in the context of, you understand, island nations or programs or social development, and all of these are really, extremely important concerns.
And the dividends pay off down the roadway when Venezuela itself remains in the spotlight of the international neighborhood. Then they have buddies that they can depend on and it pays dividends for them - What is a finance charge on a credit card. So I think that at the end of the day that is a lesson frankly that we can discover, 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 extremely essential for much of the region and now the area is quite paying the cost, whether it is in financial obligation or other areas 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. A boost in the expense 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 going up and the region looking at ways to increase sustainable energy, whether it is through gas or getting the area less based what a time share on Petrocaribe and able to make these switches to new kinds of energy is going to make a huge difference. Mr. Sires. See, I do not believe things take place by accident.
The other issue that I have is the considerable increase of China in this region. You understand, we seem to be put to a lull of sleep or something due to the fact that everyone seems to relocate and then we react. And we do not appear to capture these things till something like this happens, you understand, like Venezuela. So regrettably, you know, considering that I have been here we have been pushing-- and I know Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you understand, this is an essential region for us. It is an important area for America and we actually need to concentrate.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they are available in and they throw cash, you know, at these small nations, which in truth they can't pay for not to accept the cash. So just how much of impact exists now of the Chinese? And I understand it is growing, but-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese impact, it is really really interesting to watch the method China has actually type of entered the area and the kinds of projects. Sometimes it is a sports stadium - How old of a car will a bank finance. I believe the recent, the Baha Mar debacle in the Bahamas, you have seen the Chinese Federal government come in in a method that the U.S.
If a Chinese designer enters into a nation in the area they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the workers. Ms. Yearwood. And the staff members. Therefore you have actually successfully got a plan that the U.S - What is a swap in finance. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other factors, the U.S. can not complete in regards to the kinds of investment that they have the ability to take in without type of having to do the due diligence behind it. And it is really welcome in a great deal of locations, but what Baha Mar has shown us is that it can develop an extremely tight spot for the nations where they go.
Farnsworth. I believe Sally raises a truly interesting and crucial point in this context. How to finance a car from a private seller. You know, the Chinese or Venezuelan model is a state-led design, so the capital of the country, the leaders in the country can state this is what we are More help going to do. We are going to produce Petrocaribe or we are going to build a sports stadium or we are going to declare 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 nations, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190723005692/en/Wesley-Financial-Group-Sees-Increase-Timeshare-Cancellation and in contrast of other investment chances in other nations in Latin America, much less worldwide, these are economies that normally aren't going to draw that big investment except in a couple sectors like tourist like we have been speaking about. What the onus needs to be is to find ways to clear and establish a seamless economic space in between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that economic sector capital can work. There are chances. Lastly, I would state that the Caribbean is ending up being a far more complicated 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 consider the Caribbean now in a wider sense. In regard to Haiti, I believe really essential is its continued combination with the English-speaking Caribbean, because these are well developed democracies and it is a financial location which holds chances for Haiti and there is now quite a lot of Caribbean investment entering into Haiti and vice versa.