Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has on Monday February 17, issued a stern warning to Google, stating that the country will take the tech giant to court if it continues to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” for US users.
Sheinbaum stated that her government had sent another letter to the US tech giant, arguing that President Donald Trump’s executive order on the name change applies only to the section of the continental shelf belonging to the United States.
The letter makes it clear that “under no circumstances does Mexico accept the renaming of any geographic area that includes part of its national territory and that is under its jurisdiction,” she said.
“We will wait for Google’s response and, if not, we will proceed in court,” Sheinbaum announced at her daily news conference. The warning follows Sheinbaum’s statement on Friday, February 14, that Mexico was considering legal action against Google, saying, “If necessary, we will file a civil suit.”
Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico soon after his inauguration on January 20. In response, Sheinbaum sarcastically suggested renaming the United States as “Mexican America,” referring to a historical map from before 1848, when the US seized one-third of Mexico’s territory.
Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, clarified that Maps users in Mexico would continue to see the name “Gulf of Mexico,” while those in third countries would see both names. Apple has also changed the name to “Gulf of America” for US users of its mapping application to comply with Trump’s directive.