And when the OAS under a really courageous secretary basic, Luis Almagro, tries to bring the organization 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 enacted favor and who stayed away, you can do a pretty simple one for one contrast based upon who is a member of Petrocaribe. And so the ramification of your question I believe is area on, you understand, which is why I think when we talk about the Caribbean in Washington, oftentimes we consider it in the context of, you understand, island nations or programs or social development, and all of these are very, very crucial problems.
And the dividends settle down the road when Venezuela itself is in the spotlight of the international community. Then they have good friends that they can rely on and it pays dividends for them - What does etf stand for in finance. So I think that at the end of the day that is a lesson honestly that we can learn, and I believe we can develop towards reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I concur 100 percent with Eric. Venezuela actioned in at a time that was extremely essential for much of the region and now the area is really much paying the cost, whether it is in financial obligation or other areas related to votes and other requirements that they do as a result of the-- Mr.
Increased expenses in energy too now. Ms. Yearwood. Sorry? Mr. Sires. A boost in the cost of energy likewise. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, absolutely, definitely. Therefore I believe to the point, we are at an important point now with the cost of energy being what it is with the U.S. energy supply https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190806005798/en/Wesley-Financial-Group-6-Million-Timeshare-Debt going up and the area taking a look 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 types of energy is going to make a big distinction. Mr. Sires. See, I do not believe things take place by mishap.
The other concern that I have is the significant boost of China in this area. You understand, we seem to be put to a lull of sleep or something due to the fact that can i sell my timeshare back to the resort everybody seems to relocate and after that we respond. And we don't seem to catch these things until something like this takes place, you understand, like Venezuela. So regrettably, you know, given that I have been here we have been pressing-- 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 truly ought to focus.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they can be found in and they toss money, you know, at these small nations, which in truth purchasing a time share they can't manage not to accept the cash. 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 really fascinating to see the method China has sort of entered into the area and the kinds of tasks. In some cases it is a sports stadium - What do you need to finance a car. I think the recent, the Baha Mar fiasco in the Bahamas, you have seen the Chinese Federal government can be found in in such a way that the U.S.
If a Chinese developer comes into a nation in the region they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Federal government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the workers. Ms. Yearwood. And the workers. Therefore you have effectively got a bundle 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 contend in terms of 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 extremely welcome in a lot of places, but what Baha Mar has revealed us is that it can create an extremely tight spot for the nations where they go.
Farnsworth. I believe Sally raises a really 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 nation, the leaders in the country can say this is what we are going to do. We are going to produce Petrocaribe or we are going to construct a sports arena or we are going to state that we are going to establish these tasks, whereas the U.S. model is private sector-led model. And the detach here is that we are handling smaller economies, island nations, and in contrast of other investment opportunities in other countries in Latin America, much less worldwide, these are economies that typically aren't going to draw that big financial investment other than in a couple sectors like tourist like we have actually been speaking about. What the onus has to be is to find methods to clear and establish a smooth financial area in between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that economic sector capital can work. There are opportunities. Lastly, I would say that the Caribbean is ending up being a far more intricate area since 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 wider sense. In regard to Haiti, I think extremely essential is its continued combination with the English-speaking Caribbean, due to the fact that these are well established democracies and it is a financial area which holds chances for Haiti and there is now rather a great deal of Caribbean financial investment going into Haiti and vice versa.