And when the OAS under a really brave secretary basic, Luis Almagro, attempts to bring the organization towards 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 indeed much of the Caribbean Basin has not supported that. And if you line up the votes, who voted in favor and who abstained, you can do a pretty easy one for one comparison based upon who belongs to Petrocaribe. And so the implication https://apnews.com/Globe%20Newswire/36db734f7e481156db907555647cfd24 of your concern I think is area on, you understand, and that is why I think when we talk about the Caribbean in Washington, usually we believe about it in the context of, you know, island nations or programs or social advancement, and all of these are really, extremely essential issues.
And the dividends pay off down the road when Venezuela itself is in the spotlight of the international community. Then they have buddies that they can depend on and it pays dividends for them - How to finance an engagement ring. So I believe that at the end of the day that is a lesson honestly that we can find out, and I think we can construct toward reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I concur 100 percent with Eric. Venezuela actioned in at a time that was really important for much of the area and now the area is very much paying the price, whether it owes money or other areas connected to votes and other requirements that they do as an outcome of the-- Mr.
Increased expenses in energy too now. Ms. Yearwood. Sorry? Mr. Sires. An increase in the expense of energy likewise. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, absolutely, definitely. Therefore I think to the point, we are at an essential point now with the cost of energy being what it is with the U.S. energy supply increasing and the area taking a look 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 types of energy is going to make a substantial difference. Mr. Sires. See, I do not think things occur by mishap.
The other issue that I have is the significant increase of China in this region. You understand, we seem to be put to a lull of sleep or something since everybody seems to relocate and after that we respond. And we don't appear to catch these things up until something like this occurs, you know, like Venezuela. So unfortunately, you know, considering that I have actually been here we have 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 actually must concentrate.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they are available in and they toss money, you understand, at these small nations, which in reality they can't afford not to accept the money. So just how much of influence is there now of the Chinese? And I know it is growing, but-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is actually extremely fascinating to watch the method China has sort of entered into the region and the types of tasks. Often it is a sports stadium - Accounting vs finance which is harder. I think the current, the Baha Mar ordeal in the Bahamas, you have actually seen the Chinese Government can be found in in a method that the U.S.
If a Chinese designer comes into a country in the region they have the Chinese funding and the Chinese Government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the employees. Ms. Yearwood. And the workers. Therefore you have effectively wesley financial group bad reviews got a package that the U.S - How to finance a home addition. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other reasons, the U.S. can not contend in terms of the types of financial investment that they are able to take in without type of having to do the due diligence behind it. And it is really welcome in a lot of places, but what Baha Mar has actually revealed us is that it can create a really hard situation for the countries where they go.
Farnsworth. I think Sally raises a really interesting and crucial point in this context. What is internal rate of return in finance. You understand, the Chinese or Venezuelan model 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 declare that we are going to develop these projects, whereas the U.S. model is personal sector-led model. And the disconnect here is that we are handling smaller sized economies, island nations, and in contrast of other financial investment opportunities in other nations in Latin America, much less around the world, these are economies that normally aren't going to draw that big financial investment other than in a couple sectors like tourist like we have been discussing. What the onus has to be is to discover ways to clear and establish a seamless economic area between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that economic sector capital can work. There are opportunities. Lastly, I would state that the Caribbean is becoming a far more intricate location because 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 larger sense. In regard to Haiti, I think really essential is its ongoing integration with the English-speaking Caribbean, due to the fact that these are well established democracies and it is a financial location which holds opportunities for wesley financial services Haiti and there is now rather a great deal of Caribbean investment entering into Haiti and vice versa.