To the Editor:
Re “Trump’s Campaign Chief Was Millions in Debt to Pro-Russia Interests” (news article, July 20):
In the first sentence Cyprus is described as a “secretive tax haven.” Yet this is inconsistent with article’s reliance on “the Cyprus documents obtained by The New York Times.” Let me respectfully point out that secretive tax havens and jurisdictions typically keep no public records, are not cooperative and are unlikely to grant any information to journalists.As I watch the name of Cyprus being tossed around as a laundering place for Russian black money and as a secretive tax haven, and even though I understand the journalistic temptation to suggestively exploit the name of a small country that is defenseless against demonization, I am surprised to see that serious journalists do not notice the inconsistency of basing stories on information either provided by Cyprus authorities or otherwise obtained from Cypriot sources in order to argue a case for secretiveness and evasive behavior.Please, next time, take the trouble to check out how high on the list of compliant countries Cyprus ranks in international anti-money-laundering reviews before you, unjustifiably, use our name again in an accusatory tone.LEONIDAS PANTELIDES, WASHINGTONThe writer is Cyprus’s ambassador to the United States
