The first publication in Russian of the first letter of Hernan Cortes to Emperor Charles V with an introduction, comments and notes by the translator. Published in two articles. The introduction outlines the special situation in the creation of this letter. The formal captain-general of the expedition to Mexico, the governor of Cuba, Diego Velasquez, decided at the last moment to replace the commander-in-chief; Cortes, appointed by him earlier, refused to obey the order and arbitrarily left Cuba at the head of the expedition, thereby placing himself outside the law. These circumstances determined the genre specifics of the letter: it was created in the form of a collective report on the initial stage of the expedition and a request to approve Cortes as captain general - this was the decision made democratically by soldiers and captains. The specificity of the genre allows Cortes to present himself in the most favorable light, downplay the merits of his predecessor, Juan de Grijalva, who discovered Mexico, and denigrate Velazquez in every possible way. The fragment of the letter published in the first article tells about previous expeditions to the Gulf of Mexico and describes the stay of the Spaniards on about the island Cozumel, where they managed to get an interpreter, a Spaniard who spent several years captives in the Yucatan and mastered the Mayan language.