This letter originally appeared on the website of PEN International.

To our colleagues in the United States of America,

At this time of an unprecedented, relentless assault on the free press of the United States by the Trump administration, we Mexican journalists, writers, and publishers stand in solidarity with you as you do your crucial work.

For decades you have stood by us as successive governments and criminal gangs have targeted our press and assassinated our journalists for doing work in the public interest—uncovering crimes and corruption. And so many times we have only known the truth about our own country by reading the stories followed and uncovered in the U.S. press. We urge you to continue to uphold freedom of expression as your society, institutions, and values depend upon it.

You have stood with us during the darkest hours of press freedom in Mexico and, although we never could believe this day would come, we now stand with you.

Most sincerely,

Jennifer Clement

President, PEN International

President Emeritus PEN Mexico

Homero Aridjis

President Emeritus, PEN International

Lucinda Kathmann

VicePresident, PEN International

President Emeritus, PEN San Miguel

Magali Tercero

President, PEN Mexico

Aline Davidoff

President Emeritus, PEN Mexico

Eduardo Lizalde

President Emeritus, PEN Mexico

Víctor Manuel Mendiola

President Emeritus, PEN Mexico

Judyth Hill

President, PEN San Miguel

Elizabeth Starcevic

President Emeritus, San Miguel

Beverly Donofrio

President Emeritus, PEN San Miguel

Arnulfo Velasco

President, PEN Guadalajara

Martha Cerda

President Emeritus, PEN Guadalajara

Adriana Díaz Enciso

Adriana Malvido

Alberto Castro Leñero

Alberto Chimal

Alberto Lomnitz, Coordinator of the National Theatre Companies

Alberto Ruy Sánchez

Alejandro Almazán

Alejandro Ortiz

Alejandro Páez Varela, Founding member of www.SinEmbargo.mx

Alejandro Sandoval Ávila

Alfredo Corchado, Director

Alice Pipitone

Alicia García Bergua

Alicia Quiñones

Ana Belén López

Ana Clavel

Ana Cristina Ruelas, Director of Articulo 19 for Mexico and Central America

Ana García Bergua

Andrés Ramírez, Literary Director of PRH Mexico

Angélica Abelleyra

Angelina Muñiz-Huberman

Antonio Fuente

Antonio Ortuño

Armando Alanís Canales

Armando Vega-Gil

Arturo Delgado

Barbara Sibley

Ben Santamaría

Benjamín Mayer Foulkes

Bernardo Fernández, Bef

Beverly Donofrio

Boris Viskin

Braulio Peralta

Brenda Ríos

Carlos Bravo Regidor, Periodismo CIDE

Carlos Tello

Carlos Tomasini

Carmen Boullosa

Celia del Palacio

Celia Guerrero, Periodistas de a Pie

Columba Vertiz de la Fuente

Concepción Peralta

Cristina Pacheco

Cristina Rivera Garza

Chloe Aridjis

Damián Mendoza

Daniel Moreno, Director of Animal Político

Daniel Rodríguez Barrón

Daniela Rea

David Huerta

David Lida

David Olguín

Denise Dresser

Diego Enrique Osorno

Dominic Braco II

Eduardo Milán

Eduardo Moshes

Eduardo Vázquez Martín, Minister of Culture for Mexico City

Eileen Truax

Elena Poniatowska

Elia Baltazar

Enrique Serna

Everardo González

Federico Mastrogiovanni

Fernanda Álvarez, editor at PRH Mexico

Fernanda Melchor

Fernando Fernández

Fernando García Ramírez

Fernando Rivera Calderón

Francisco Castro Leñero

Francisco Goldman

Francisco Mata Rosas

Genaro Lozano Valencia

Guillermo Quijas, Director of the International Oaxca Book Fair

Héctor de Mauleón, Deputy Director Nexos

Héctor Iván González

Hector Toledano

Hernán Bravo Varela

Humberto Enoc Cavazos Arozqueta

Ignacio Rodríguez Reyna, Director of Emeequis

Imanol Cayeda

Irene Selser

Ioan Grillo

Iris García Cuevas

Irma Evangelina Gallo

Irma Palacios

Irving Ramírez

Isaí Moreno

Iván Alonso Báez Díaz

Iván Farías

Iván Ríos Gascón

Jaime Mesa

Jaime Romero Robledo

Javier Martínez Staines, Director of Think Tank Media

Javier Moro Hernández

Jenaro Villamil

Jorge Volpi, Director de Culture UNAM

José Agustín

José Ángel Leyva

José Buendía

José Fernández

José Luis Martinez S., Director of Laberinto, Milenio

José Manuel Recillas

José Pablo Salas

Josué Ramírez

Juan Castro Gessner

Juan Villoro

Julián Herbert

Julio Patán

Karl Casillas

Keith Dannemiller

Laura Emilia Pacheco

Laura Esquivel

Lolita Bosch

Lucía Rivadeneyra

Luis Alberto Castillo

Luis Cardona

Luis de la Barreda Solórzano

Luis Miguel Aguilar

Luis Roberto Castrillón

Lydia Cacho

Magali Velasco

Marcela Turati

Marco Antonio Cruz, Photography Editor at Proceso

Margo Glantz

María Baranda

Mariclaire Acosta, Director of Freedom House Mexico

Mario Bellatin

Martha Díaz de Kuri

Martín Solares

Mauricio Sandoval

Michelle Solano

Miguel Ángel Quemain

Miguelángel Díaz Monges

Mónica Lavín

Mónica Mansour

Mónica Sánchez Escuer

Moshen Emadi

Nantzin Saldaña

Natalia Toledo

Nicolás José

Omar Nieto

Óscar de la Borbolla

Pablo Ferri, Premio PEN

Pablo Moya, co-director of Ediciones El Milagro

Pedro Meyer

Primitivo Olvera

Raquel Castro

Raquel Huerta-Nava

Raúl Trejo Delarbre

Ricardo Castillo

Ricardo Cayuela, Editorial Director of PRH Mexico

Roberto Banchik, General Director of PRH Mexico

Rocío Cerón

Rocío Gallegos, Editorial Director of Diario de Juárez

Rodrigo Garnica Portillo

Rodrigo Martínez Baracs

Rogelio Villarreal Macías

Román Revueltas Retes

Rosa Beltrán

Rose Mary Espinosa Elías

Sandra Cisneros

Sara Sefchovich

Sergio González Rodriguez

Sergio Téllez-Pon

Sheila Amador

Sidharta Ochoa

Tanya Huntington Hyde

Témoris Grecko

Vanessa García Lembo

Verónica Maza Bustamante

Verónica Murguía

Vianett Medina. Director of Asoc. Libreros Tijuana.

Vicente Rojo Cama

Viétnika Batres

Wilberto Torre

Yuri Herrera

For further details please contact Sahar Halaimzai at PEN International’s London Office: PEN International, Koops Mil, 162-164 Abbey Street, London SE1 2AN Tel: +44 (0) 207 405 0338 Fax: +44 (0) 207 405 0339 email: [email protected]