Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has reached out to Google, urging the company to reconsider changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico.
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order to rename the body of water to the Gulf of America in his first week in office. However, this revision will solely reflect on US-based Google Maps users while the traditional name remains for others worldwide.
Mexico contests the renaming, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which limits territorial waters to 12 nautical miles from a country's coast. Sheinbaum declared, [The name change] could only correspond to the 12 nautical miles away from the coastlines of the United States of America.
Google is yet to respond to the BBC's inquiry, but it clarified on social media that it updates names based on official government sources. Additionally, it will comply with Trump's directive to rename Mount Denali as Mount McKinley in the US.
Sheinbaum criticized Google's decision, emphasizing that it should not comply with a single country's directive for an international sea name change. However, she teased by suggesting that Mexico might request further renaming, like adding Mexican America on the map.
Referring to Trump's order, Sheinbaum stated, For us it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico.