The Summit of the Americas begins Wednesday in Los Angeles but it will be without some large parts of the continent.
The Biden administration decided to bar Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from attending. The move had been rumored and in the run-up, Mexico said it wouldn't attend unless everyone was invited. Today, Mexican President Lopez-Obrador followed through on his word, withdrawing Mexico from attendance.
Cuba had attended the past two summits.
One stated US goal of the summit was repairing the US reputation in Latin America but given the early returns, that's a longshot.
For markets, the exclusion of Venezuela is a strong indication that it won't be further tapped to increase global oil supplies. Last week, the US cleared some Venezuelan cargoes for Europe to displace Russian oil.
WTI crude oil is up 20-cents to $119.07 today.
In terms of FX, Mexico's decision not to attend isn't a factor for the Mexican peso. It's trading at 19.48.
