Mexico Discusses Suing Google Due To Renaming Of Gulf Of Mexico On US Maps
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that the nation will sue Google if the platform doesn’t re-label the Gulf of Mexico from its recent change to the Gulf of America. US users of Google Maps now see the gulf labeled Gulf of America after US President Donald Trump signed an order to rename it within his first month of presidency.
“What Google is doing here is changing the name of the continental shelf of Mexico and Cuba, which has nothing to do with Trump’s decree, which applied only to the US continental shelf,” Sheinbaum told reporters on Monday.
“We do not agree with this, and the Foreign Minister has sent a new letter addressing the issue.”
“[The renaming] is incorrect and [Trump’s decree] only changed the name within his own continental shelf, which extends 22 nautical miles from the US coast – not the entire gulf,” she said.
The decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for US users came from “a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.”
Users in Mexico still see the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico online while every other country sees both names listed.
President Sheinbaum initially threatened to take legal action against Google last week when they stated a civil suit could be an option if the site doesn’t correct the renaming themselves. Sheinbaum called the change an “inaccurate designation.”
Google sent a letter to Mexico in response that Sheinbaum read out loud regarding the name change and Mexico’s response:
“As we first announced two weeks ago, and consistent with our product policies, we’ve begun rolling out changes in Google Maps. We would like to confirm that people using Maps in Mexico will continue to see ‘Gulf of Mexico,’” the letter from Google said.
“People in the US will see ‘Gulf of America’. Everyone else will see both names,” the letter stated.
Sheinbaum said Mexico sent a response letter to Google saying “any reference to the ‘Gulf of America’ initiative on your Google Maps platform must be strictly limited to the marine area under U.S. jurisdiction.”
“Any extension beyond that zone exceeds the authority of any national government or private entity. Should that be the case, the Government of Mexico will take the appropriate legal actions as deemed necessary,” they said.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
