Organizers of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad yesterday temporarily suspended the media pools which were initiated as part of protocol following a chaotic rush by the press to photograph Heads of State at a plenary session.

Summit spokesman Felipe Noguera said the scene was “not a pretty sight” as he announced the suspension. He said that the push for photographs made it difficult for security to manage the pools that were selected to attend the meeting between US President Barack Obama and the members of the Union of South American Nations (UNSUR).

Noguera said that the suspension stemmed from a policy of the heads attending the summit and, as a result, the National Secretariat would disseminate information flowing from the various discussions to the local and international press.

He also hinted at initial hiccups with the pooling, but noted that they were better organized for the plenary session. However, he said the press flouted protocol and exercised a lack of discipline during the rush. But late in the afternoon the media pools were operating again with the first batch being chosen to cover the official dinner for Heads of State being hosted by Trinidad’s Prime Minister, Patrick Manning and his wife Hazel Manning.

Melanie Gibb of Globe Cast, which was contracted to organize the media pools, told Stabroek News yesterday that the pooling for the Fifth Summit of the Americas was the same as others she has worked on in the past, noting that “it often depends on security as to how things turn out.”

Stabroek News understands that while the media was pushing to take the photographs someone hit a light switch and it resulted in President  Obama asking what had happened to the lights.

The suspension was said to have been taken out of security concerns for the Heads of State attending the summit.