evidence: Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday called for a bill to create a "Guyana Esequiba" province and ordered Venezuelan companies to prepare to enter the territory to explore for fossil fuels and minerals "immediately". The move escalated tensions over the disputed oil-rich territory. [...] Venezuela has for decades laid claim to Essequibo, claiming that the Essequibo River to the region’s east forms a natural border and has historically been recognised as such. [...] However, Maduro proposed at Tuesday’s government meeting that a bill be sent to the National Assembly for the creation of a "Guyana Esequiba" province.