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 undoubtedly much of the Caribbean Basin has actually not supported that. And if you line up the votes, who enacted favor and who abstained, you can do a pretty simple one for one comparison based upon who belongs to Petrocaribe. And so the implication of your question I think is area on, you know, and that is why I think when we speak about the Caribbean in Washington, often we think of it in the context of, you understand, island nations or programs or social development, and all of these are really, extremely essential problems.
And the dividends settle down the roadway when Venezuela itself is in the spotlight of the international community. Then they have friends that they can rely on and it pays dividends for them - How old of a car will a bank finance. So I believe that at the end of the day that is a lesson honestly that we can find out, and I believe we can construct toward reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I agree one hundred percent with Eric. Venezuela stepped in at a time that was very crucial for much of the area and now the region is quite paying the price, whether it owes money or other locations connected 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. An increase in the cost of energy also. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, definitely, definitely. And so 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 methods to increase sustainable energy, whether it is through gas or getting the region less depending on Petrocaribe and able to make these switches to brand-new kinds of energy is going to make a substantial difference. Mr. Sires. See, I do not think things occur by mishap.
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 everyone appears to relocate and then we react. And we do not seem to catch https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/04/23/2021107/0/en/WESLEY-FINANCIAL-GROUP-REAP-AWARDS-FOR-WORKPLACE-EXCELLENCE.html these things till something like this takes place, you know, like Venezuela. So sadly, you know, because I have been here we have actually been pushing-- and I know Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you know, this is an essential region for us. It is an essential area for America and we really must focus.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they come in and they throw cash, you know, at these little countries, which in truth they can't afford not to accept the cash. So how much of influence exists now of the Chinese? And I understand it is growing, however-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is actually really intriguing to enjoy the way China has sort of entered into the area and the types of jobs. In some cases it is a sports stadium - How to owner finance a home. I think the current, the Baha Mar ordeal in the Bahamas, you have actually seen the Chinese Federal government can be found in in such a way 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 employees. Ms. Yearwood. And the workers. And so you have actually effectively got a bundle that the U.S - What jobs can i get with a finance degree. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other reasons, the U.S. can not complete in terms of the kinds of financial investment that they have the ability to take in without kind of needing to do the due diligence behind it. And it is really welcome in a lot of places, however what Baha Mar has actually revealed us is that it can develop an extremely difficult situation for the countries where they go.
Farnsworth. I https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190806005798/en/Wesley-Financial-Group-6-Million-Timeshare-Debt believe Sally raises an actually intriguing and essential point in this context. Why are you interested in finance. You understand, the Chinese or Venezuelan design is a state-led design, 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 develop Petrocaribe or we are going to develop a sports arena or we are going to state that website we are going to develop these tasks, whereas the U.S. design is private sector-led model. And the disconnect here is that we are dealing with smaller sized economies, island countries, and in comparison of other financial investment opportunities in other countries in Latin America, much less worldwide, these are economies that generally aren't going to draw that big financial investment except in a couple sectors like tourism like we have actually been talking about. What the onus needs to be is to find ways to clear and establish a smooth economic area 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 becoming a much more complex area because of the modifications in policy towards Cuba, the cross-cutting trade agreements such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we have to consider the Caribbean now in a wider sense. In regard to Haiti, I think really crucial is its continued integration with the English-speaking Caribbean, since these are well established democracies and it is an economic location which holds opportunities for Haiti and there is now rather a great deal of Caribbean financial investment entering into Haiti and vice versa.
