(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro praised the "courage and clarity" of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for choosing not to attend this week's Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.

       Maduro said Washington's decision to not invite himself or the leaders of Cuba and Nicaragua "was an act of discrimination" and that the U.S. government "has ensured the summit would fail."

       (Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Tom Hogue)