President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum was far from pleased with Google and threatened to sue them for the name change. Google was not acting on its own accord, but the company was rather following US President Donald Trump’s orders.
After Trump was sworn into the presidency for the second time, he wasted no time in signing several executive orders, including changing the name of the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America.”
RELATED STORIES
Sheinbaum has a sense of humor
The Mexican president joked in a conference about renaming the US. She stood in front of a map demonstrating North and South America from 1607 and pointed at areas that are now under US possession, saying:
“The United Nations recognizes the name Gulf of Mexico, but next, why don’t we call it Mexican America? It sounds nice doesn’t it? Since 1607, the constitution of Apatzingan was Mexican America. So, let’s call it Mexican America?”
She argued her case
As reported by USA Today, Sheinbaum wrote a letter to Google about the gulf’s name change, saying: “If a country wants to change the designation of something in the sea, it would only apply up to 12 nautical miles. It cannot apply to the rest, in this case, the Gulf of Mexico. This is what we explained in detail to Google.”
Then she toned down the humor
During a press conference on February 17, she revealed that her administration would take things up to court if Google doesn’t change the “Gulf of America” label to only cover the area pertaining to the US.
“We’re talking about 22 nautical miles, not the entire gulf,” Sheinbaum said, according to Business Insider.
What the letter said
“Any reference to the ‘Gulf of America’ initiative on your Google Maps platform must be exclusively limited to the marine area under US jurisdiction,” the letter from the Mexican Administration to Google read.
“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,” the letter continued.
What inspired Trump’s decision
Trump dubbed the area “an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America” and “a crucial artery for America’s early trade and global commerce,” according to the official White House website; he resorted to renaming the gulf as a solution.
Google’s reaction to the executive order
Google surprised everyone by following the president’s orders, but there’s a catch: The name you see upon searching depends on where you are in the world.
Maps users can see the local name, while international users can see both names.