And when the OAS under an extremely brave sample cancellation letter secretary basic, Luis Almagro, attempts to bring the institution 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 gone along with that. And if you line up the votes, who voted in favor and who stayed away, you can do a pretty simple one for one comparison based upon who belongs to Petrocaribe. And so the implication of your concern I think is spot on, you know, and that is why I believe when we talk about the Caribbean in Washington, frequently we think about it in the context of, you know, island countries or programs or social development, and all of these are really, extremely important issues.
And the dividends pay off down the roadway when Venezuela itself remains in the spotlight of the global community. Then they have pals that they can rely on and it pays dividends for them - What does ltm mean in how can you get out of a timeshare finance. So I think that at the end of the day that is a lesson honestly that we can learn, and I think we can build toward reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I agree one hundred percent with Eric. Venezuela stepped in at a time that was really essential for much of the area and now the area is quite paying the cost, whether it owes money or other locations related 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, absolutely, absolutely. Therefore I think to the point, we are at an essential juncture now with the cost of energy being what it is with the U.S. energy supply increasing and the region taking a look 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 new types of energy is going to make a substantial distinction. Mr. Sires. See, I don't think things occur by mishap.
The other concern that I have is the substantial increase of China in this area. You understand, we seem to be put to a lull of sleep or something due to the fact that everybody appears to move in and after that we respond. And we don't seem to capture these things until something like this happens, you understand, like Venezuela. So unfortunately, you understand, since I have been here we have actually been pressing-- and I understand Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you know, this is an essential region for us. It is a crucial area for America and we truly need to focus.
They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they come in and they throw money, you know, at these little countries, which in reality they can't afford not to accept the cash. So how much of influence is there now of the Chinese? And I understand it is growing, however-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is in fact really fascinating to watch the method China has sort of come into the area and the kinds of jobs. In some cases it is a sports arena - Which of the following was eliminated as a result of 2002 campaign finance reforms?. I think the current, the Baha Mar fiasco in the Bahamas, you have actually seen the Chinese Government been available in in a manner that the U.S.
If a Chinese designer enters into a country in the region they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the employees. Ms. Yearwood. And the staff members. Therefore you have actually successfully 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 complete in terms of the kinds of financial investment that they are able to take in without type of needing to do the due diligence behind it. And it is extremely welcome in a great deal of locations, however what Baha Mar has actually shown us is that it can develop an extremely tough scenario for the nations where they go.
Farnsworth. I think Sally raises an actually interesting and important point in this context. How old of an rv can you finance. You understand, the Chinese or Venezuelan model is a state-led model, so the capital of the country, the leaders in the nation can state 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 we are going to establish these projects, whereas the U.S. model is private time share exit team reviews sector-led model. And the disconnect here is that we are dealing with smaller sized economies, island countries, and in contrast of other investment opportunities in other nations in Latin America, much less worldwide, these are economies that usually aren't going to draw that big financial investment except in a couple sectors like tourism like we have been discussing. What the onus needs to be is to discover methods to clear and establish a seamless financial space in 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 ending up being a a lot more complex area since of the changes in policy towards Cuba, the cross-cutting trade agreements such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we have to think about the Caribbean now in a broader sense. In regard to Haiti, I believe really essential is its ongoing integration with the English-speaking Caribbean, since these are well established democracies and it is a financial area which holds chances for Haiti and there is now quite a great deal of Caribbean investment going into Haiti and vice versa.