And when the OAS under an extremely courageous Click for source secretary basic, 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 assistance of the hemisphere, and indeed much of the Caribbean Basin has 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 on who belongs to Petrocaribe. And so the implication of your concern I believe is area on, you understand, and that is why I believe when we talk about the Caribbean in Washington, often we think of it in the context of, you understand, island countries or programs or social advancement, and all of these are extremely, extremely crucial problems.
And the dividends settle down the road when Venezuela itself is in the spotlight of the international neighborhood. Then they have good friends that they can rely on and it pays dividends for them - What credit score is needed to finance a car. So I believe that at the end of the day that is a lesson frankly that we can learn, and I think we can build toward reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I concur 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 rate, whether it owes money or other locations connected to votes and other requirements that they do as a result of the-- Mr.
Increased costs in energy too now. Ms. Yearwood. Sorry? Mr. Sires. A boost in the cost of energy also. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, definitely, absolutely. And so I think to the point, we are at an essential point 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 gas or getting the area less depending 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 mywesley believe things occur by mishap.
The other concern that I have is the substantial boost of China in this region. You know, we seem to be put to a lull of sleep or something since everyone appears to move in and after that we react. And we don't seem to catch these things until something like this occurs, you understand, like Venezuela. So regrettably, you know, since I have actually been here we have actually been pressing-- and I know Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you understand, this is an important area for us. It is an essential region for America and we truly need to focus.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they are available in and they toss money, you know, at these little countries, which in truth they can't manage not to accept the cash. So just how much of impact is there now of the Chinese? And I understand it is growing, however-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is actually very interesting to enjoy the way China has actually sort of entered into the region and the types of tasks. Sometimes it is a sports arena - What does ltm mean in finance. I believe the current, the Baha Mar debacle in the Bahamas, you have seen the Chinese Federal government can be found in in a method that the U.S.
If a Chinese developer comes into a country in the region they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the staff members. Ms. Yearwood. And the staff members. Therefore you have efficiently got a bundle that the U.S - How long can you finance a used car. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other reasons, the U.S. can not compete in regards to the types of financial investment that they have the ability to take in without kind of having to do the due diligence behind it. And it is extremely welcome in a lot of places, however what Baha Mar has actually revealed us is that it can create a very tight spot for the countries where they go.
Farnsworth. I think Sally raises an actually fascinating and crucial point in this context. How old of an rv can you finance. You know, the Chinese or Venezuelan model is a state-led model, so the capital of the nation, the leaders in the nation can say 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 to state that we are going to establish these jobs, whereas the U.S. design is private sector-led model. And the detach here is that we are dealing with smaller sized economies, island nations, and in comparison of other financial investment chances in other nations in Latin America, much less around the world, these are economies that typically aren't going to draw that large financial investment except in a couple sectors like tourist like we have been speaking about. What the onus needs to be is to discover ways to clear and establish a seamless financial area in between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that economic sector capital can work. There are opportunities. Finally, I would state that the Caribbean is ending up being a much more complex location because of the changes in policy towards Cuba, the cross-cutting wesley com trade contracts such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we have to think of the Caribbean now in a broader sense. In regard to Haiti, I think really essential is its ongoing integration with the English-speaking Caribbean, since these are well developed democracies and it is an economic location which holds chances for Haiti and there is now rather a great deal of Caribbean financial investment going into Haiti and vice versa.