Mexican president sending letter to Google over Gulf of Mexico name change

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Mexican president sending letter to Google over Gulf of Mexico name change 

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during her daily conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on Jan. 8, 2025.  ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that her government will send a letter to Google after the internet giant said it would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico for users of Google Maps in the United States.

Sheinbaum said the Mexican government is currently drafting a letter that will be sent to Google to explain the composition of the seas and their powers after the company said it would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico.

"We are sending a letter to Google first to tell it: I suppose Google Maps will know about this international division, it will also know which organization is the one that gives the name to the international seas and what would correspond in any case to the continental shelf," Sheinbaum said.

This came after Google said it would take its cue from the U.S. government on changing the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Mt. Denali on its maps following U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Sheinbaum also shared her thoughts on Trump's executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico during her daily press briefing on Tuesday.

"The Gulf of Mexico is still the Gulf of Mexico," Sheinbaum said.

Last Tuesday, Sheinbaum couldn't help but laugh when she got to the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as she was working through the raft of Trump's executive orders relating to Mexico.

"He says that he will call it the Gulf of America on its continental shelf," Sheinbaum said. "For us, it is still the Gulf of Mexico, and for the entire world it is still the Gulf of Mexico."

In his inaugural address last Monday, Trump said he would change the name.

"A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America," he said.

Hours later he signed an executive order to do it.

The first time Trump mentioned the idea of changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, Sheinbaum responded sarcastically, suggesting instead renaming North America as "America Mexicana" or "Mexican America," because a founding document dating from 1814 that preceded Mexico's constitution referred to it that way.

"That sounds nice, no?" she added with a sarcastic tone.

She also noted that the Gulf of Mexico had been named that since 1607.

In a post on X on Monday, Google said it has "a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources."

The company said Maps will reflect any updates to the Geographic Names Information System, a database of more than one million geographic features in the United States.

Many Mexican citizens reacted to the name change following Trump's announcement.

Mexico's national tourism ministry shared photos encouraging people to visit Mexico, writing, "Long live the Gulf of Mexico! The beauty of our Mexico is marvellous, in the eyes of the world and as it has been called since 1607 on world maps."

Rocio Nahle, the governor of Veracruz, wrote in a post: "For 500 years, it is and will continue to be our rich and great 'Gulf of Mexico.'"

"If Google changes the name of the Gulf of Mexico, let's all go edit Google and Wikipedia and rename the USA as NORTHERN MEXICO," Jose Luis, from Tlalnepantla de Baz, Mexico, wrote on X.

Juan Cobos, a former resident of Veracruz, called the renaming "absurd" while speaking to CNN.

"You can't change something overnight, what we've grown up with - history, geography, all that. You can't be so authoritarian that you can change it from one day to the next."

In an editorial for Mexican newspaper El Universal, legal expert Mario Melgar-Adalid advised Mexico to push back.

"Mexico must firmly oppose this interference, otherwise the next step could be that instead of the United Mexican States [Mexico's formal name], as established in our Constitution, they will begin to call us Old Mexico," he wrote. Story continues below advertisement

Trump's executive order — titled "Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness" — reads: "It is in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes. The naming of our national treasures, including breathtaking natural wonders and historic works of art, should honor the contributions of visionary and patriotic Americans in our Nation's rich past."

The order also says that within 30 days, the U.S. secretary of the interior will rename "the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba."

Americans and Mexicans diverge on what to call another key body of water, the river that forms the border between Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. Americans call it the Rio Grande; Mexicans call it the Rio Bravo.

— With files from Global News' Michelle Butterfield, Reuters and The Associated Press