Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has criticized Google for its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" in Google Maps for US users, following US President Donald Trump's order, Reuters reports.
During the press conference, Sheinbaum presented an official letter addressed to Google, in which she argued that the United States cannot unilaterally change the name of an international water body that it shares with Mexico and Cuba.
"[The name change] could only correspond to the 12 nautical miles away from the coastlines of the United States of America," Sheinbaum said, referring to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defines the boundaries of territorial waters.
The controversy arose after Google announced that Google Maps would change the display of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for users in the United States as soon as the change is officially approved by the US Geographic Names System. Meanwhile, in Mexico, the name will remain "Gulf of Mexico," and in other countries, Google Maps will show both names.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly criticized Trump's initiative, even joking that if countries start renaming geographical entities based on historical claims, North America should be called "Mexican America," referring to a map of the region from 1607.
In response to Google's decision, the Mexican president called on the company to display a historical map of "Mexican America" in search results.
"We ask that when you put Mexican America in the search engine, the map appears that we presented," Sheinbaum said.