evidence: Last updated: May 7, 2024 at 19:56 pmThe county of Essequibo encompasses approximately 290,000 people in 700 villages and communities, the majestic Kaieteur Falls – the world’s highest single-drop waterfall – and most of Guyana’s precious mineral resources to boot. It includes the Rupununi Savannahs which span thousands of acres of virtually untouched plains, rain-forested mountains, Amerindian villages and rare wildlife–one of the brightest jewels in Guyana’s tourism crown. The Essequibo is everything west of the mighty Essequibo River all the way to the border with Venezuela. Guyana’s ownership of the Essequibo is always under constant threat of usurpation by our Western neighbor, Venezuela, which has long maintained that it has a legitimate claim to all territory east of Venezuela up to the Essequibo River. There is a ubiquitous slogan in Venezuela that rings out, "the sun of Venezuela rises in the Essequibo." The bitter dispute has its roots in border lines drawn up by former colonial powers. While Guyana accepts an 1899 tribunal ruling, Venezuela insists the process was flawed by political collusion, doubling down on its claim over the entire Essequibo county.