So we will simply try to survive it and I will try to monitor it. All eyes are on Venezuela today, and Venezuela's influence on the Caribbean countries from energy to trade and other things are really worrying, particularly Eastern Caribbean nations. So, I guess the question that I have is, all six nations of the Company of Eastern Caribbean States are members of the Bolivarian Alliance referred to as ALBA, which includes efforts to promote local cooperation and alleviate hardship; so to what level have ALBA and Petrocaribe increased Venezuela's influence in the Caribbean? I believe I can answer that question enormously.
Mr. Farnsworth. Mr. Chairman, thank you. And I agree it is the pregnant problem if you will of the area. Venezuela is a nation that is in collapse. Economically, some are saying it is no longer a democracy. It is a nation that has serious and long lasting internal problems which it is going to take years to get beyond. Therefore, the relationship that Venezuela has actually developed with a number of countries of the Caribbean in excellent times has actually ended up being strained, since the largesse that Venezuela has had the ability to honestly provide away or to provide a concessionary on concessionary terms has been Visit this website much constrained in the present environment.
I guess what I would say remains in the existing environment, due to the fact that of the difficulties that Venezuela is having and frankly since of the chances that we have in the United States through the entire revolution of energy that we have actually seen in our own nation over the last numerous years, we have an opportunity to come into the Caribbean as a partner and state, look, you know the programs and the activities that you may have been making with Venezuela are no longer appropriate and we can offer the exact same things that you require without the political or without the ideological overhang that you might have had formerly - What does ach stand for in finance.
Duncan. Let me ask you something about that. Exists enough trust of the United States for us to step into that void with those countries? I don't know the answer to that. Mr. Farnsworth. Well, I think in the current environment we need to do some foundation. We require to do some spade work. I suggest, look, Petrocaribe was an extremely successful program and we comprehend why. I imply, it was prompt, it supplied something that the leaders needed when they required it. It was symbolic. It was very, really simple to explain to people. I mean, we are getting oil from Venezuela.
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It was on one problem. And I believe often, when the United States engages with the nations of the Caribbean, we have a great deal of well meaning programs and wonderful concepts, but they are diluted, right? Not misguided, but diluted in terms of the effort and the focus. Under Petrocaribe, it was one item quickly discussed, extremely symbolic, and people stated Venezuela's our friend - What do you need to finance a car. And I think what we need to do much better from the United States' viewpoint is to build that level of trust through a continuous continual engagement with the area so that people can say, look, we do trust you. What does ach stand for in finance.
Mr. Duncan. I personally believe energy is an excellent chance for us, no doubt about that. Let me delve into cash laundering and terrorism funding a bit. There is a big push by the U.S. to have U.S. banks sever relationship with Caribbean-based banking organizations. Does that policy work to reduce cash laundering and opportunities for terrorist companies to access the financial system? And that is most likely to Sally. Ms. Yearwood. In a lot of methods it does the opposite, because as soon as U.S. banks vacate the area what you have actually created in reality is a void and that becomes filled by other institutions.
So, what is being produced is a circumstance where there is more chance for terrorist funding or something to fail and somebody to exploit that space. So time share vacation rentals I would state that the U.S. banks absolutely need to be a key and crucial player in the local cash system. Mr. Duncan. I am probably less worried, and perhaps I shouldn't be, but less concerned about terrorism funding through the Caribbean monetary institutions as I have to do with money laundering. What does finance a car mean. We simply saw in Panama, a huge $800 million money laundering scheme, realty involvement, big variety of employees associated with a genuine organization-- still a money laundering scheme.
Ms. Yearwood. Part of the problem is the perception of danger versus the reality of the danger. Banks are not leaving the Caribbean due to the fact that there is cash laundering. Banks are leaving the Caribbean since the expenses of compliance are overwhelmingly stacked against the banking system. You have little jurisdictions and for each account that you are handling you have to put a huge amount of money into making sure that the expense of-- that business is clean. However what we have to do in impact is produce a system where the regulators, the banks, everyone is collaborating, info is being shared, and when info is passed in between the regulators and the Treasury or the regulators and the banks, people understand where the voids are.
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And the issue in the Caribbean is that the economies are small, putting these systems in place costs a lot, but all timeshare attorneys of america the Caribbean will inform you that they satisfy the compliance regulations. Therefore there is a disconnect in between what is in fact occurring and what individuals are stating is occurring. I believe among the typical complaints is the breakdown between what is going on in overseas monetary services and what is going on in banking. And the Panama Papers were really mostly linked to the offshore financial services market versus the reporter banking and de-risking issue that is currently being dealt with.
Mr. Duncan. I am presuming that the Federal Federal government is keeping track of-- in Panama Papers a person is never ever linked because and begin shifting financial resources around, in perhaps, the Caribbean nation. I am presuming our Treasury and FBI are monitoring that, I would presume. So I am going to proceed and accept the ranking member. Mr. Sires. Among the factors that I supported, or I still support the export of energy from this country is to offset the impact of Venezuela since generally they were utilizing it for political purpose. You know, if you look at the votes they took at the U.N.
So now Venezuela remains in difficulty. I believe their production is something like 40, half less, and there is a space there that we can assist fill and, you understand, we can truly assist in regards to just having a bit more affect on people. The other thing that worries me is that on the eastern part of the Caribbean. Essentially, we have an Embassy in Barbados and it serves all those islands there. On the other hand, you have Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, they all have an existence there. So I was just wondering just how much of a competitive downside this puts us when we don't have, truly, a presence in the Eastern Caribbean.