Claudia Sheinbaum and US President Donald Trump (Image: GETTY/President of Mexico)
’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has stoked tensions with over the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico – by suggesting the USA be renamed Mexican America.
Following an executive order by Mr Trump issued shortly after he returned to the White House, the Gulf of Mexico was renamed the Gulf of America.
The change in underway on Maps for US users, while retaining the original name for users in Mexico – although as of Friday, .
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has expressed strong disapproval of this unilateral decision, arguing that the United States lacks the authority to alter the name of a shared body of water without international consensus.
Citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Sheinbaum emphasised that such changes should be confined to a nation’s territorial waters, extending only 12 nautical miles from its coastline.
Mexico is sending a formal letter to Google, requesting that the company refrain from implementing the name change on its platform.
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The Gulf of Mexico is being renamed the Gulf of America in the USA (Image: Getty)
Earlier this month, during a press briefing, she produced a 1607 map which referred to “Mexican America”.
She lightheartedly proposed dryly that North America should be renamed thus, pointing out that a founding document dating from 1814 which preceded Mexico’s constitution referred to it that way.
She added: “That sounds nice, no?”
Announcing his plan on January 7 on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said: “We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring.”
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Denali is being renamed Mt McKinley – again (Image: Getty)
“That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.”
Google says it will take its cue from the US government if it has to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali on its platform in full.
The company said Monday that it will only make changes when the government updates its official listings for the body of water and the mountain.
After taking office, President also ordered Denali, America’s highest mountain peak be changed back to Mt McKinley.
Google said: “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.”
The company said that maps will reflect any updates to the Geographic Names Information System, a database of more than 1 million geographic features in the United States.
“When that happens, we will update Google Maps in the U.S. quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America,” Google said.
Denali is the mountain’s preferred name for Alaska Natives.
Former President Barack Obama ordered it changed in 2015 from its previous name McKinley, which was a tribute to President William McKinley, designated in the late 19th century by a gold prospector.