The Summits of the Americas (SOA) is a series of international summit meetings bringing together the leaders of countries in the OAS. All countries sent representatives to all meetings except for Cuba, who was expelled from the OAS under US pressure after its Revolution. Cuba joined the Summit on its seventh edition. In the early 1990s, what were formerly ad hoc summits came to be institutionalized into a regular "Summit of the Americas" based on the principles of democracy and free trade. The meetings, organized by a number of multilateral bodies led by the Organization of American States, provide an opportunity for discussions about a variety of issues and topics.
The summits that garnered most general public and media attention were the Quebec City and Mar del Plata events, both of which provoked very large anti-globalization and anti–Free Trade Area of the Americas protests and attendant police response.
All 35 independent nations of the Americas are members of the OAS.
The following jurisdictions are not members of the OAS as they are dependencies of other nations. They are grouped under the nation that has sovereignty over them.