Mexico has launched prosecution against Google for changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the American Gulf for users of the Google Maps application in the United States, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday. The search engine has indeed complied with a decision by Donald Trump.
“The complaint has already been filed,” said Ms. Sheinbaum at her morning press conference, without specifying the date or jurisdiction.
As of January 20, the first day of his return to the White House, President Donald Trump had signed a decree changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”. The cartography service now displays “Gulf of America” in the southeast of the United States, on the sea framed by Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico and Cuba, for users located in the United States.
The House of Representatives adopted a text on Thursday to formalize this name change and thus give the law to this decree.
Ms. Sheinbaum had warned in February Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, that she was considering legal action unless the technological giant returns to her decision.
Limited application
The Mexican Government of the nationalist left argues that Donald Trump’s decree only applies to the part of the continental plateau belonging to the United States.
“All we want is that the decree issued by the United States government is respected,” said Ms. Sheinbaum. “The American government only calls the portion of the American continental plateau on the Gulf of America, not the entire Gulf, because it would not have the authority to appoint the entire Gulf,” she added.
Ms. Sheinbaum had in return suggested to rename the United States “Mexican America”, referring to a geographical map before 1848, when third of Mexico had been sold to the United States by the Guadalupe Treaty.
Mexico is also on the front line of commercial wars launched by Donald Trump against the trade partners of the United States, destination of more than 80% of Mexican exports.
