evidence: Maduro said he will proceed "to grant operating licences for the exploration and exploitation of oil, gas and mines in the entire area of our Essequibo". He demanded that Guyanese companies working in the territory leave within three months. [...] 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, Guyana, of which Essequibo makes up more than two-thirds and hosts 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens, has administered the territory since the frontiers were determined by an arbitration panel in 1899.