And when the OAS under an extremely bold secretary general, Luis Almagro, tries to bring the organization toward recognizing that Venezuela is no longer in compliance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, he is not getting the complete support of the hemisphere, and certainly much of the Caribbean Basin has actually not gone along with that. And if you line up the votes, who voted in favor and who abstained, you can do a pretty easy one for one contrast based on who is a member of Petrocaribe. And so the ramification of your concern I believe is spot on, you understand, which is why I think when we speak about the Caribbean in Washington, frequently we think about it in the context of, you know, island nations or programs or social advancement, and all of these are really, very important concerns.

And the dividends settle down the road when Venezuela itself is in the spotlight of the global community. Then they have buddies that they can rely on and it pays dividends for them - What is a consumer finance account. So I believe that at the end of the day that is a lesson honestly that we can discover, and I believe we can construct toward reversing that course. Ms. Yearwood. I agree one hundred percent with Eric. Venezuela actioned in at a time that was extremely important for much of the region and now the region is quite paying the cost, whether it owes money or other areas associated with votes and other requirements that they do as a result of the-- Mr.

Increased costs in energy too now. Ms. Yearwood. Sorry? Mr. Sires. An increase in the cost of energy likewise. Ms. Yearwood. Oh, definitely, definitely. And so I believe to the point, we are at a crucial 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 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 huge distinction. Mr. Sires. See, I don't think things occur by mishap.

The other issue that I have is the substantial increase of China in this region. You understand, we appear to be put to a lull of sleep or something since everyone seems to move in and then we respond. And we don't appear to capture these things up until something like this happens, you know, like Venezuela. So sadly, you understand, because I have actually been here we have been pushing-- and I understand Mr. Meeks and the other members that are here, you know, this is an essential region for us. It is an important region for America and we truly must focus.

They are going to go through the Panama Canal and they are available in and they throw money, you understand, at these small nations, which in reality they can't manage not to accept the cash. So how much of influence exists now of the Chinese? And I know it is growing, however-- Ms. Yearwood. The Chinese influence, it is really really intriguing to see the method China has sort of entered into the area and the types of tasks. Sometimes it is a sports stadium - How to finance a house flip. I think the recent, the Baha Mar debacle in the Bahamas, you have actually seen the Chinese Government can be found in in such a way that the U.S.

If a Chinese developer comes into a country in the area they have the Chinese financing and the Chinese Government behind them. Mr. Sires. And the employees. Ms. Yearwood. And the staff members. And so you have actually effectively got a bundle that the U.S - Which of the following can be described as involving direct finance. can not-- the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and all sorts of other factors, the U.S. can not complete in terms of the types of investment that they are able to take in without type of needing to do the due diligence behind it. And it is very welcome in a great deal of locations, but what Baha Mar has actually revealed us is that it can develop an extremely tough situation for the countries where they go.

Farnsworth. I believe Sally raises a truly fascinating and crucial point in this context. What does ear stand for in finance. You understand, the Chinese or Venezuelan design is a state-led design, so the capital of the nation, the leaders in the country 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 sector-led design. And the disconnect here is that we are dealing with smaller economies, island nations, and in comparison of Click here for info other financial investment opportunities in other countries in Latin America, much less worldwide, these are economies that typically aren't going to draw that big investment except in a couple sectors like tourism like we have been talking about. What vacation club vs timeshare the onus has to be is to discover methods to clear and develop a smooth economic area in between the U.S. and the Caribbean so that economic sector capital can work. There are opportunities. Last but not least, I would say that the Caribbean is ending up being a a lot more complex location due to the fact that of the modifications in policy towards Cuba, the cross-cutting trade agreements such as CAFTA, et cetera, and we have to consider The original source the Caribbean now in a wider sense. In regard to Haiti, I believe extremely important is its ongoing combination with the English-speaking Caribbean, since these are well developed democracies and it is a financial location which holds chances for Haiti and there is now quite a lot of Caribbean financial investment entering into Haiti and vice versa.