Independent investigative journalism & global affairs
PearceRobinson.com / Evidence archive
The Document Room.
The public record behind the reporting: legislation, judgments, parliamentary proceedings and attributed evidence. Original documents retain their issuing authority and ownership; newsroom source records identify the reporting they support.
63 public records
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
The Business of Generations — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Migration, manufacturing and succession shaped Trinidad and Tobago’s family enterprises. Their histories reveal how personal authority becomes an institution—and why heritage, ownership and control need separate records.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
Before the Success Story — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
In Trinidad and Tobago, young founders are building staffing agencies, water sensors, steelpan software and farms. Empowerment becomes real when the training ends and the business has to find its second customer, and then its tenth.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
Jamaica’s Cannabis Economy — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
The 2015 reform opened a regulated route for medical and scientific enterprise. Building durable businesses—and meaningful participation for small growers—requires more than the plant’s international reputation.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
The Connections That Make an Economy — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Energy, finance, shipping and tourism depend on one another. Caribbean integration acquires its practical value when an agreement reaches the port, the electricity system and the business seeking a customer.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
A Country Kept in Many Forms — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Steelpan, Carnival archives, immigration records and architectural craftsmanship preserve different parts of Trinidad and Tobago’s inheritance. Their continuity depends on people who teach, document and maintain them.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
Arthur Lewis and the Institutions of Independence — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
The Saint Lucian economist’s record extends from development theory to university administration and regional finance. Named responsibilities reveal the practical work behind his public contribution.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
Who Commands the Caribbean? — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
America’s campaign against alleged drug boats has tested the boundary between policing and war, and divided the governments living closest to it. For the Caribbean, the defence of sovereignty now begins with a harder question: whose security counts?
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
Haiti: The Distance Between a Mandate and a State — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
A stronger international security mandate has not yet delivered dependable protection, while displacement and deportations are stretching Haiti’s capacity to survive. As elections retreat into 2027, the test of foreign engagement is whether Haitians can recover ordinary civilian life rather than merely endure another transition.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
Small States, Expensive Choices — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Competition for the Caribbean is moving from diplomatic declarations into hospital contracts, port software and border databases. Governments seeking room between Washington, Beijing and newer financiers face a harder task than choosing sides: making powerful partners compete on Caribbean terms.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
A Check on Washington: Not a Caribbean Reprieve — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Democrats have won both chambers of Congress, although some election results remain unresolved. For the Caribbean, the opening is real—but tariffs, deportations and coercive foreign policy will not disappear with a change of congressional leadership.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
Guyana’s Sovereign Dividend — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Oil has given Guyana extraordinary revenues while its boundary case against Venezuela moves through The Hague. The harder test is whether a richer state can turn financial power into security for its citizens.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
The islands and the invoice — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
From Jamaica’s hurricane losses to the unfinished negotiations in Antalya, climate finance is being tested against the cost of keeping small states viable. The reckoning turns on a harder question than how much money is promised: who ultimately carries the risk.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
The passport bargain comes due — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Eastern Caribbean governments turned citizenship into a source of development finance, but the countries controlling its most valuable travel privileges are rewriting the bargain. Under European and American pressure, the region must defend its sovereignty without mistaking a volatile revenue stream for a permanent economic settlement.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
The Border Comes Home — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Deportation agreements, vanishing protections and a new tax on money sent home are drawing the Caribbean deeper into the migration politics of richer states. Across the Atlantic and within the region itself, the question is who must carry the cost when permission to belong is withdrawn.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
Who Decides What Repair Means? — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
Britain has agreed to structured dialogue over slavery’s historical harms, while CARICOM has sharpened its programme for reparatory justice. The next struggle is over who sets the terms—and whether acknowledgment can become an obligation.
Issue 01 essay · source register / Compiled 14 November 2026
The Reverend Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson: The authority to repair — Issue 01 source record
Public institutional records and attributed research
A Trinbagonian theologian made history at the head of the United Reformed Church’s General Assembly, then carried its slavery apology to Jamaica. Her work asks what must change when repentance moves beyond words.
Dated proposals · attributed reporting
A capital drawn in renderings — source record
Government of Trinidad and Tobago and contemporaneous reporting
The Revitalisation Blueprint sets out a new waterfront for Port of Spain. The November 2025 launch and February 2026 submissions describe the ambitions behind the drawings; they do not establish which projects have since secured approval, financing or construction contracts.
Official readouts · international institutions · contemporaneous reporting / Compiled 12 November 2026
Mia Mottley: the power of a small nation — source record
Government of Barbados · UN · IMF · World Bank · foreign ministries · press
Records behind the cover feature on Mia Mottley’s diplomacy, the Bridgetown Initiative, Barbados’s debt operations and the domestic record.
Primary legal texts · attributed reporting · legal analysis / Compiled 10 November 2026
Trinidad under scrutiny: international law, Geneva recommendations and security powers
UN · ICJ · ICC · Parliament · court pleadings · contemporaneous reporting
The evidence behind emergency-powers recommendations and potential responsibility for assistance to unlawful military operations, with separate institutional mandates and evidentiary status.
Primary judgment · Curated extracts and attributed research / Compiled 10 November 2026
Jason Jones: the judgment, legislative history and reporting record
JCPC · statutory record · UWI scholarship · international and local reporting
Paragraph-level evidence for the 1986 replacement law, constitutional arguments, historical maxima, litigation chronology and limits of the 10 November 2026 decision.
Newsroom source record · Commentary / Record compiled 9 November 2026
Festival greetings and Islamic rulings: source record
Darul Iftaa, Jaamia Madinatul Uloom · Trinidad Express · Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah · MajlisTT · Malaysian fatwa authorities · Scripture
The institute's statement and clarification, the published rulings of other Muslim authorities, and the scriptural passages cited in the commentary.
Newsroom source record · International investigation / Record compiled 9 November 2026
Ueno Bank, the impeachment of Santiago Peña and the San Bernardino vault: source record
Ministerio Público del Paraguay statements · Paraguayan press (ABC Color, Última Hora, El Nacional, RDN) · Reuters, EFE, BBC Mundo, DW, UPI, MercoPress
The record behind the investigation: the collapse of Ueno Bank, public and pension deposits, the charges against Santiago Peña and his defence, and every reported detail of the vault, as of 9 November 2026, 17:00 GMT.
Newsroom source record · Elections and foreign policy / Record compiled 5 November 2026
The 2026 US midterms, the Republican split and the Caribbean strikes: source record
NBC News results tables · FEC official results · UN and EU records · Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago · press reporting
The documentary record behind the analysis: projected Senate, House and governor results as of 5 November 2026, official 2024 presidential margins, Republican reactions, the Iran war and UN findings, the Caribbean strike campaign, and statements by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.
Newsroom source record · Foreign policy / Record compiled 4 November 2026
Trinidad and Tobago's foreign policy, the Iran war and the 2026 US midterms: source record
UN General Assembly records · Government statements · US polling · press reporting
The documentary record behind the analysis: the Prime Minister's statements on Washington, the Iran statement of 28 February 2026, the Doral summit, CARICOM and Venezuela, recorded UN votes, American opinion and the 3 November election.
Newsroom source record · International justice and foreign policy / Record compiled 3 November 2026
Trinidad and Tobago, A.N.R. Robinson and the International Criminal Court: source record
UN General Assembly records · International Criminal Court · archival statements · press reporting
The documentary record behind the analysis of Trinidad and Tobago's 2 November 2026 abstention: Robinson's initiative, the Court's own acknowledgements, four recorded votes, the Cuba vote and the sanctions context.
Newsroom source record · Diplomacy, procurement and heritage / Record compiled 4 November 2026
The new U.S. Embassy in Maraval: source record
U.S. Embassy statements · federal contract records · architect's project record · National Trust · U.S. Code · press reporting
The documentary record behind the history and design of the U.S. Embassy compound at the former Trinidad Country Club: embassy statements and video, the design and construction contracts, the National Trust history, the security statutes and the regional context.
Primary document · Ministerial statement / 12 October 2026
Budget Statement 2027
Ministry of Finance · Davendranath Tancoo
The fiscal 2027 budget statement presented on 12 October 2026. Employment comparisons, grant increases, revenue and expenditure estimates, and proposed tax measures.
Primary document · Economic and fiscal review / October 2026 · checked 13 October 2026
Review of the Economy 2026
Ministry of Finance · CSO historical statistics and Ministry forecasts
Historical output and labour statistics, calendar 2026 projections, revised fiscal accounts and public-debt definitions accompanying Budget 2027.
Primary document · Development programme / October 2026 · checked 13 October 2026
Public Sector Investment Programme 2027
Government of Trinidad and Tobago · Ministry of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development
The 2026 allocation-to-revised-expenditure reconciliation and proposed fiscal 2027 development programme, including council-specific disaster preparedness.
Primary document · Development estimates / Fiscal 2026 estimates · checked 13 October 2026
Development Programme Estimates 2026 — original 2025 and 2026 allocations
Ministry of Finance · Head 42
Original 2025 and original 2026 municipal development allocations for all 14 Trinidad corporations, distinct from revised expenditure.
Primary document · Scanned development estimates / October 2026 · checked 13 October 2026
Draft Development Programme Estimates 2027 — municipal capital schedule
Ministry of Finance · Head 42
The complete 2027 council-level allocation comparison, read from the original scanned tables and visually cross-checked after text recognition.
Primary document · Ministerial statement / October 2025 · checked 13 October 2026
Budget Statement 2026 — prior-year fiscal baseline
Ministry of Finance
The preceding budget statement, used to check the original fiscal assumptions and announced ministry-level allocations.
Primary document · Act of Parliament / Assented 5 October 2026 · Gazetted and in operation 6 October 2026
The Special Operations Act, 2026 (Act No. 21 of 2026)
Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago · Legal Supplement Part A, Trinidad and Tobago Gazette, Vol. 65, No. 167
The enacted text of the Special Operations Bill, 2026. Assented to on 5 October 2026 and published in the Gazette on 6 October 2026. Section 2 provides for commencement by presidential Proclamation; the President proclaimed 6 October 2026 as the date on which all sections came into operation. Section references below follow the enacted numbering, verified against the Parliament copy on 12 October 2026.
Primary judicial record · Selected verbatim extracts / Judgment delivered 15 September 2026 · article dated 16 September 2026
Mannette v Robinson — judgment extracts, CV2025-03649
High Court of Justice of Trinidad and Tobago · Justice Westmin R.A. James
Selected passages from the written judgment delivered on 15 September 2026, checked against the 39-page written judgment delivered by the High Court. Quotation excerpts are identified separately from editorial explanations. The selection covers public interest, established facts, source evidence, verification, the defences and liability.
Newsroom source record · Governance, boundaries and representation / Record compiled 5 October 2026
Trinidad’s proposed 14-to-17 municipal restructuring: source record
Elections and Boundaries Commission · Parliament and Government records · Central Statistical Office · contemporaneous reporting
The documentary record behind the proposed municipal restructuring, separating the announced plan from the existing statutory and electoral geography.
Newsroom source record · Geopolitics, energy and community / Record compiled 5 October 2026
Trinidad and Tobago, Israel and the southern Caribbean: source record
United Nations · bilateral records · energy companies · public institutions · historical sources
The public record behind the strategic analysis, with proposals and exploratory discussions kept distinct from completed state action.
Newsroom source record · Parliamentary procedure / Record compiled 30 September 2026
The Senate casting vote: source record, 1861–2026
Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago · Erskine May · Hansard · public reporting
The written rules, Westminster authority and Trinidad and Tobago precedents behind the September 2026 casting votes.
Newsroom source record · Bill analysis / Record compiled 30 September 2026 · reflects the Bill as introduced
The 2026 age-limits Bill: source record
Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago · Bill Essentials · Finance measures · public-health evidence
The Bill as introduced, clause by clause, with the duty changes, industry accounts and public-health evidence cited in the analysis.
Newsroom source record · Rights, information and public oversight / Record compiled 29 September 2026
A new balance of power: source record, 2025–2026
Parliament · Gazette · TATT/CSO · OPR · public record
The verified legislative, emergency-power, digital-access and oversight record behind the investigation.
Primary document · Bill / Introduced 16 September 2026
The Special Operations Bill, 2026
Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago · House of Representatives (B. 15 of 2026)
A Bill to establish policing districts in Trinidad and Tobago, provide for the conduct of special operations with or without military assistance, and permit the declaration of closed areas subject to cordons, curfews, permits and enhanced powers of search, seizure, arrest and detention. The Bill contains twenty-six clauses and a Schedule.
Primary document and attributed public record / Constitution enacted 1976 · public record compiled 26 September 2026
The Constitution and the independent Senate: the public record
Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago · Parliament · contemporaneous reporting
The constitutional provisions establishing the Independent bench, the recorded Special Operations Bill division, and the Prime Minister's attributed statements following the vote.
Speech record · awaiting official UN transcript / Address delivered 22 September 2026 · record compiled 26 September 2026
Kamla Persad-Bissessar's 2026 United Nations address: reported record
81st United Nations General Assembly · TTT News and 103.1FM reports
Verified excerpts and themes reported from the Prime Minister's 22 September 2026 address. The official United Nations transcript was not publicly retrievable when this record was compiled.
Newsroom source record · United Nations General Assembly / Address delivered 24 September 2026 · record compiled 27 September 2026
Netanyahu at UNGA81: walkout, attendance and Trinidad and Tobago's position
UNGA81 footage · attributed diplomatic statements · contemporaneous reporting
A source record separating the observed walkout from delegations whose seats were already vacant, and recording Trinidad and Tobago's stated reason for remaining during Benjamin Netanyahu's 24 September 2026 address.
Primary document · Bill / Introduced and passed in the House of Representatives 23 September 2026
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill, 2026
Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago · House of Representatives (B. 16 of 2026)
A ten-clause Bill proposing new exemptions from the procurement law, limits on the Office of Procurement Regulation's intervention powers, higher simplified-procurement thresholds and a shorter standstill period.
Primary document · Regulatory statement / Issued 16 April 2026
OPR statement on the HDC’s TT$3.4 billion housing procurement
Office of Procurement Regulation, Trinidad and Tobago
The Procurement Regulator's signed statement that the Office directed the Housing Development Corporation to hold the award of TT$3.4 billion in contracts while it reviewed the procurement record.
Reference record · International standards
International standards on transparent public procurement
United Nations, OECD and World Bank
The international principles used to assess transparency, competition, oversight and access to effective review in public procurement. They provide context; they do not decide the legality of Trinidad and Tobago's Bill.
Primary document · Statutory annual report / Laid in Parliament 11 September 2026
Third Annual Report of the Office of Procurement Regulation, FY2024/2025
Office of Procurement Regulation, Trinidad and Tobago
The Procurement Regulator's third annual report on the operation of the public procurement system. It records the value and volume of contracts awarded by public bodies in the financial year, the rate at which those bodies met their statutory reporting obligations, and the Regulator's assessment of data quality across the system.
Primary document · Special report / Laid in Parliament 9 September 2024
Special Report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts for Financial Year 2023
Auditor General's Department, Trinidad and Tobago
The Auditor General's special report into the understatement of revenue in the Public Accounts for the financial year ended 30 September 2023, following the issue of a disclaimer of opinion on the main report. It sets out the size of the discrepancy, the control failures behind it, and the correspondence between the Auditor General, the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General.
Document file · International legal record / Compiled 23 September 2026
The record on United States strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific
United Nations Human Rights Council · Legislators of the Americas · CARICOM Heads of Government
A compiled record of the principal public documents on the United States campaign of lethal strikes against vessels alleged to be carrying narcotics, which began on 2 September 2025. It brings together the United Nations Special Rapporteur's legal assessment, the joint statement of legislators from thirteen countries, and the positions taken by Caribbean governments.
Primary document · Court of Appeal judgment / Judgment delivered 29 April 2026
One Caribbean Media and others v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago
Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago
The Court of Appeal upheld the finding that the March 2020 police search of Express House, and the seizure of four flash drives from the office of the editor, breached the constitutional protection of press freedom. The search had sought to identify the source of a journalist's reporting on the finances of a senior police officer. Compensation of $25,000 was awarded.
Document file · Compiled public record / Compiled 23 September 2026
The public record on the TRHA ambulance procurement
Trinidad and Tobago Newsday · Tobago House of Assembly · Office of Procurement Regulation
A compiled record of the published reporting and public statements on the Tobago Regional Health Authority's purchase of twelve ambulances under Tender No PMT01-2022, from the contract award in July 2023 to the Procurement Regulator's investigation in November 2025.
Document file · Compiled public record / Reporting dated 19 February 2024 · later developments to October 2024
The public record on the Gulfstream oil spill off Tobago, 2024
Tobago Updates · Bellingcat · Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries · IOPC Funds
The contemporaneous broadcast and the open-source and official record on the capsized barge Gulfstream, the tug Solo Creed, the route through Venezuelan waters, the cargo and the pursuit of those responsible.
Newsroom reporting file · Investigation / Reporting dated 15–24 February 2024 · later findings to May 2024
Tobago oil spill: contemporaneous reporting file, 15–24 February 2024
Pearce Robinson contemporaneous Facebook reporting · direct TankerTrackers.com correspondence · Bellingcat · Reuters · official records
This file preserves the sequence of the reporting on the Gulfstream spill: public open-source questions, direct questioning of a specialist source, the decision to withhold unverified claims, and the confirmation and correction that followed.
Newsroom source record · Caribbean affairs / Discussion held 23 September 2026 · record compiled 27 September 2026
Mia Mottley and reform of the global financial architecture: source record
Council on Foreign Relations · Bridgetown Initiative · Barbados public record · IMF
The primary and attributed record supporting the analysis of Mia Mottley’s argument on vulnerability, sovereign finance and the role of small states.
Newsroom source record · Agriculture and intellectual property / Record compiled 27 September 2026
Seed rules in Trinidad and Tobago, 1997–2026: source record
Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago · UPOV · TTIPO · CARIFORUM–EC EPA · CarIPI
The primary record behind the investigation of Trinidad and Tobago’s move from UPOV 1978 to UPOV 1991. Quotations are reproduced from the official Hansard text.
Document file · Judgment extracts / Judgment given 28 January 2025 · [2025] UKPC 4 · Heard 7 November 2024
Ramdass v Minister of Finance: extracts from the Privy Council judgment
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Extracts from the Privy Council's judgment in the Auditor General's challenge to the Minister of Finance's investigation, The Board decided only whether the challenge could proceed; it made no finding that public money was lost.
Primary document · United Nations inquiry / Report presented 19 June 2019 · A/HRC/41/CRP.1
Inquiry into the unlawful death of Jamal Khashoggi
UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
The Special Rapporteur's investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, including findings on state responsibility and the limits of the Saudi proceedings.
Primary document · United Nations legal opinion / Adopted at the 87th session · 27 April–1 May 2020
UN Working Group opinion on the detention of Omoyele Sowore
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Opinion No. 27/2020 concerning Nigerian journalist and Sahara Reporters publisher Omoyele Sowore, arrested ahead of planned RevolutionNow demonstrations in August 2019.
Primary document · United Nations legal opinion / Adopted at the 88th session · 24–28 August 2020
UN Working Group opinion on Truong Duy Nhat
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Opinion No. 42/2020 on the disappearance of Vietnamese journalist Truong Duy Nhat from Thailand and his subsequent detention and conviction in Vietnam.
Primary document · United Nations monitoring findings / Findings published 24 June 2022
OHCHR monitoring findings on the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
The UN Human Rights Office's findings after examining the scene and reviewing photographic, video, audio and witness evidence concerning the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin on 11 May 2022.
Document file · Regional human-rights record / Records published 1 June and 3 October 2023
IACHR record on violence and surveillance affecting Caribbean journalists
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights · Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression
Two public records concerning the killings and displacement of journalists in Haiti and the forensic finding that Dominican investigative journalist Nuria Piera's phone was infected with Pegasus spyware.
Primary document · United Nations experts' statement / Published 11 February 2022
UN experts on impunity for killings of journalists in Bangladesh
United Nations Special Procedures
The joint statement issued on the tenth anniversary of the murders of journalists Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi, addressing delay, impunity and the wider safety of journalists in Bangladesh.
Document file · Verified casualty record / Living record · first published October 2023
The record of journalists killed in the Israel–Gaza war
Committee to Protect Journalists · United Nations human-rights experts
A source record on journalists and media workers killed during the Israel–Gaza war, including CPJ's case-verification method and UN experts' demand for investigation and accountability.