Mexico will take Google to court if it insists on changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name to “Gulf of America” for Maps users in the U.S., President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.
She said her government had written again to the U.S. company arguing that President Donald Trump’s executive order on the subject only applies to the part of the continental shelf belonging to the United States.
The letter informs Google 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 said at her daily news conference.
Sheinbaum had announced on Friday that her government 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 Jan. 20 inauguration.
In response, Sheinbaum cheekily suggested calling the United States “Mexican America,” pointing to a map dating back to before 1848, when one-third of her country was seized by the United States.
Google, which is part of tech giant Alphabet, said that users of its Maps app in Mexico would continue to see the name “Gulf of Mexico” while those in third countries would see both names.
Apple has also renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” for U.S. users of its mapping application to comply with Trump’s order.
