Fed up with Google’s insistence on labelling the Gulf of Mexico because the Gulf of America on Google Maps, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says her country has made good on threats to sue the tech giant.
“The lawsuit has already been filed,” Sheinbaum said at her morning news conference on Friday, without saying where and when it was submitted, reports The Guardian.
The change within the name of the body of water was an act made by U.S. President Donald Trump by executive order earlier this yr.
At a February press conference, shortly after the manager order was signed and Google modified the name on its maps, Sheinbaum argued that Trump’s order to rename the gulf only applies to a part of the continental shelf under U.S. control.
“What Google is doing here is changing the name of the continental shelf of Mexico and Cuba, which has nothing to do with Trump’s decree, which applied only to the U.S. continental shelf,” Sheinbaum said on the time, adding Mexico had written a letter to Google and was awaiting a response on the matter.
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“We’ll wait for Google’s response and if not, we are going to proceed to court,” she warned, sharing a previous letter from Cris Turner, Google’s vp of presidency affairs and public policy, stating that Google is not going to change the policy it outlined after Trump declared the body of water the Gulf of America.
Because it stands, the gulf appears in Google Maps as Gulf of America inside the US, as Gulf of Mexico inside Mexico and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) elsewhere, including Canada. Turner in his letter said the corporate was using Gulf of America to follow “longstanding maps policies impartially and consistently across all regions.”
The body of water has shared borders between the US and Mexico. Trump’s order only carries authority inside the U.S.
Mexico, in addition to other countries and international bodies, would not have to acknowledge the name change.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly decried the move, arguing the “Gulf of Mexico” name has long been recognized internationally. On Feb. 13, she said Google had not resolved Mexico’s earlier complaints.
“If needed, we are going to file a civil suit,” she said. “Even President Trump isn’t proposing that your entire Gulf of Mexico be called the ‘Gulf of America,’ but only their continental shelf. So Google is mistaken.”
— With files from Global News’ Katie Scott and The Associated Press
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