Mexico City, Mexico – The Mexican government announced on Thursday that it might pursue legal action against Google for renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on its maps.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the global tech company has made a “mistake” that contradicts U.S. President Donald Trump’s decree and wrongfully imposes the new name to Mexico’s continental demarcation.
“The one we are having a dispute with right now is Google. They already responded to the letter, and we replied to them again, and if necessary, we will file a civil lawsuit. Because in the United States, it will be ‘Gulf of America,’ and in other places, ‘Gulf of Mexico,” she said.
On January 20, President Trump instructed the federal government to take actions to rename the body of water surrounded by Mexico, US and Cuba as Gulf of America to “honor American greatness.”
However, as Sheinbaum underscored during her morning briefing, Trump’s decree is limited to the U.S. continental shelf bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida making Google’s renaming of the entire Gulf a mistake.
Days after Trump’s decree, the Sheinbaum administration issued a letter to Google outlining her concerns. Thursday, Sheinbaum said that Google had dismissed Mexico’s urges, pushing her government to pursue legal action.
“If they keep insisting, we are also considering even a lawsuit, because they are even naming the Mexican territory, which is our continental shelf,” she added. “It is already being seen, analyzed, what this would mean on the part of the Legal Advisory.”
Mexico and the U.S. have been in an almost constant diplomatic row since Trump took office on January 20. The Republican president nearly set off a trade war when he threatened to impose 25% tariffs if Mexico didn’t do more to combat drug smuggling and immigration — which Mexico agreed to do by sending 10,000 National Guard troops to the U.S. border. And in his presidential campaign, Trump has repeatedly suggested sending U.S. military into Mexico to combat drug cartels, remarks that Sheinbaum sees as a threat to Mexico’s sovereignty.
Read more: Mexico’s Sheinbaum staves off Trump’s tariffs temporarily, sends National Guard to border
Featured image credit: via Claudia Sheinbaum’s X profile
