Claudia Sheinbaum has suggested renaming the US as ‘Mexican America’
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has hit back at US President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the ‘Gulf of America’.
Sheinbaum suggested that the US revert to a historic name for the territory – ‘America Mexicana’ or ‘Mexican America’. She made the comment standing in front of a 17th-century world map alongside former Culture Secretary Jose Alfonso Suarez del Real at a press briefing on Wednesday.
She was referring to Trump’s pledge earlier this week to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the ‘Gulf of America’, because it has a “beautiful ring” and is “appropriate.”
“Why don’t we call it America Mexicana. It sounds pretty, no? Isn’t that true?” Sheinbaum said. She pointed to a 1607 map displayed onstage, which showed an early image of the territory of North America that is now the US, Mexico, and part of Canada.
“The fact is that Mexican America is recognized since the 17th century... as the name for the whole northern part of the (American) continent,” Suarez del Real said, as he demonstrated the area on the European map commissioned for the Amsterdam-based Dutch East India Company in the early 17th century.
Trump floated the idea of changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, which stretches from Florida to Cancun, Mexico, at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday as part of a broader expansionist plan, including a potential takeover of Greenland. Trump said he would not rule out military or economic steps to acquire the Danish-controlled territory.
He cast doubt on Denmark’s legal right to the island, saying “they should give it up” because it is an “absolute necessity” for US national security. The president-elect also did not rule out the possibility of using military force to regain control of the Panama Canal, which, according to him, was built for the US military and is “vital to our country.”
He also reiterated his threat to impose “very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada” over illegal border crossings and drug trafficking.
Responding to Trump’s plans to slap 25% tariffs on Mexican imports, Sheinbaum earlier warned that Mexico would retaliate, arguing that the penalties would do nothing to stop the flow of migrants or drugs bound for the US, but would only cause inflation and unemployment in both countries.