Mexico's President Calderon Attempts To Change Country's Name A Week Before Stepping Down

Mexican President Felipe Calderon is making one last effort to change Mexico's official state name before stepping down from office on December 1. The country's name, Estados Unidos Mexicanos, or United Mexican State, was adopted in 1824 to imitate its northern neighbor.

The name was adopted after Mexico gained independence from Spain and is mostly used in official documents, money and government material, the Associated Press reported.

During a news conference on Thursday, Calderon said that the country should simply be known as Mexico. According to the BBC, Calderon said, "The name of our country no longer needs to emulate that of other nations."

"Forgive me for the expression, but Mexico's name is Mexico," the outgoing president said. "It's time for Mexicans to return to the beauty and simplicity of the name of our country, Mexico. A name that we chant, that we sing, that makes us happy, that we identify with, that fills us with pride."

President Calderon first suggested the name change as a congressman in 2003 but the bill did not make it to vote. In order for his new constitutional reform to pass, it would have to be approved by both houses of Congress and a majority of the country's 31 state legislatures, the AP reported.

Calderon admitted that the name change "doesn't have the urgency of other reforms," but affirmed that it should be taken as a relevant issue.

However, the president's proposal was largely mocked on Twitter, where suggestions for a new name for Mexico included references to widespread government corruption, the BBC said. Others viewed the proposal as a symbolic gesture before Calderon leaves office next week.

Calderon leaves office after a six-year term tinged with mixed results. While Mexico's economy has flourished during his presidency, the country has been hit by continuous waves of violence involving drug cartels. According to the AP, at least 47,500 people have died in cartel-related violence during Calderon's time in office.

President Calderon will hand over the presidency to president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party in December.