When accessed from within the United States, the Gulf of Mexico appears in Google Maps as the “Gulf of America,” and the latter appears as the “Gulf of Mexico” when accessed from Mexico. When accessed internationally, both names appear in the format: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.
At a news briefing on Monday, Sheinbaum shared a letter from Google to her government that stated its policy on the name would remain unchanged. “We will wait for Google’s response and if not, we will go to court,” she said.
In a statement, Mexican authorities added that “Under no circumstances will Mexico accept the renaming of a geographic area within its own territory and under its jurisdiction.”
Mexico contends that Google’s mapping policy violates its territorial integrity because the US only has jurisdiction over about 46% of the gulf. Mexico controls some 49 percent of the gulf, while Cuba controls about 5 percent.
Mexican America
In response to US President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the body of water, Google made the decision last week as part of a larger initiative to “honor American greatness.”
Trump stated that February 9 would now be known as “Gulf of America Day” when he signed the order while speaking to reporters on Air Force One.
The name “Gulf of Mexico” dates back to 1607 and is the title officially recognised by the United Nations.
After Trump’s order, Sheinbaum sarcastically suggested that North America be renamed “Mexican America”, as it was once referred to in one of the country’s founding documents.
The name “Mount McKinley,” which is Alaska’s highest peak in North America and named in honor of former US President William McKinley in 1917, was also reinstated by Trump’s executive order. The move overturned the Obama administration’s 2015 decision to recognise the mountain’s Indigenous name, Denali.
Once the change is made in the US’s official database, Google has stated that it will also follow this order for Mount McKinley.
In Google’s letter to Mexico’s government, Cris Turner, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, said the firm was using “Gulf of America” to follow its “longstanding maps policies” that it applies “impartially and consistently across all regions”.
Turner further stated in his letter that the company would like to speak with the Mexican government in person about the situation.
It is our consistent policy to consult multiple authoritative sources to get the most accurate and up-to-date information about the world, he wrote. “While international treaties and conventions are not intended to regulate how private mapping providers represent geographic features, we are not regulated by private mapping providers.”
The US has also been tensed by the name change.
Due to the news agency’s refusal to use the new “Gulf of America” title, the White House last week restricted reporters from The Associated Press’ coverage of a number of events.
Source: Aljazeera
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