Francisco Javier Remes Sánchez was puzzled as he watched President Trump sign an executive order last week renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America as part of his pledge to honor “American greatness.”
“That man talks a lot and we have no choice but to defend Mexico,” said Mr. Remes Sánchez, 52, who manages a 15,000-member fishing association in Tamaulipas state in northeastern Mexico. He has fished in the gulf for 20 years and estimated that he spends 2,000 hours a year on its waters.
“He’s changing the name of a cultural and natural heritage of Mexico since the 16th century, when the United States hadn’t even been formed,” he added.
To be clear: Mr. Trump’s order renaming the world’s largest gulf only changed the name in the United States, where he has authority, not internationally. He asked the Secretary of the Interior to remove all mentions of the Gulf of Mexico in the government’s official geographic database and ensure that “all federal references,” including maps, contracts and other documents, reflected the new name.
On Friday, the Interior Department announced the switch.
But still, across Mexico and Cuba, the other countries with maritime boundaries in the gulf, Mr. Trump’s move was met with a combination of bewilderment, indignation, indifference and, at times, laughter.
“For us and for the whole world, it is still the Gulf of Mexico,” President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said, briefly chuckling when addressing the topic last week.
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