Mexican president threatens to sue Google after controversial map change to 'Gulf of America'
The president of Mexico is threatening to sue Google after the tech giant changed its maps to label the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America.'
Back in January, just before US President Donald Trump's second-term inauguration, he issued an executive order renaming the 'Gulf of Mexico' to the 'Gulf of America' - but only for the portion under US jurisdiction.
"We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America," he said. "What a beautiful name - and it's appropriate."
Sheinbaum sarcastically responded that North America should be called 'América Mexicana' because a 17th-century map once labelled it as such.
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Following Trump's order, both Google Maps and Apple Maps updated the Gulf of Mexico's name to 'Gulf of America' for people in the US.
For those based outside of the US and Mexico, the body of water shows up as the 'Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).' However, the name stays the same for those based in Mexico.
At a recent press conference, Sheinbaum made it clear that Mexico will not accept the renaming of any geographical area within its territory or jurisdiction.
She also threatened Google that if the company didn’t change the name back to reflect only the US portion of the gulf, the Mexican government would be prepared to take legal action.
"We're talking about 22 nautical miles, not the entire gulf," Sheinbaum pointed out.
The Mexican government has been in talks with Google on the matter since January. Sheinbaum shared her government's response to Google's most recent letter on its maps.
"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 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 tech giant defended its update, stating that its 'policy' is to 'consult multiple authoritative sources to provide the most up-to-date and accurate representation of the world.'
Google's letter claimed the change was based on updates from the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), reassuring Mexico that their users would continue to see 'Gulf of Mexico' on Google Maps whilst people elsewhere in the world would be shown both names.
According to Matthew Zierler, a political science professor at Michigan State University, renaming an international body of water is something countries 'don't have authority' on.
"Renaming Denali to McKinley is within the United States' purview, but the Gulf of Mexico is a different issue," he said.