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Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that her government has sued Google. The lawsuit is about Google calling the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” on its maps.
This started after former U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order in February to rename the gulf.
Because of this order, some U.S. states and lawmakers began using the new name. Google changed its maps to follow the order: people in the U.S. see “Gulf of America,” people in Mexico still see “Gulf of Mexico,” and the rest of the world sees both names.
President Sheinbaum, who once joked that the U.S. could be renamed “Mexican America,” said this goes too far. Many in Mexico dislike Mr. Trump, but polls show they support Sheinbaum’s calm response to his decisions.
She explained that the U.S. can rename its own parts of the gulf, but it cannot rename parts that belong to Mexico or Cuba. “We would never tell them to rename one of their states or lakes,” she said.
In February, Google’s government affairs head, Cris Turner, sent a letter to Mexico. He said Google follows official names from different countries and would keep showing “Gulf of Mexico” in Mexico.
The next day, Mexico’s foreign ministry wrote back, saying the U.S. and Google have no right to rename the whole gulf, even if it’s only for American users. They warned they might take legal action.
President Sheinbaum didn’t say exactly when or where the case was filed, but said there had already been a first court decision. Her legal team told The New York Times that the case was filed in a Mexican court in March.
The name “Gulf of Mexico” has been used for centuries, long before Mexico became a country. People in Mexico and Cuba reacted to Trump’s order with a mix of anger, laughter, and confusion. But they all agree on one thing: their part will always be called the Gulf of Mexico.
There are many precedents for geographical features shared by different countries having different names in different languages. For example the English Channel is called La Manche (the Sleeve) in France. Or Mount Everest” internationally named after British surveyor George Everest is called “Sagarmatha” in Nepal and Chomolungma” in Tibet (China).
Sources: BBC, News agencies, New York Times.
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