U.S. Cultural Exchange With Russia

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/opinion/letters/russia-ambassador.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Has a U.S. College Given Russia Too Friendly a Platform?” (Arts pages, Nov. 9):

The amount of Russophobia in the American media has been unprecedented in recent years. While anti-Russian rhetoric is used for internal political struggles in the United States from time to time, this propaganda campaign has reached absurd levels, spilling over into areas that have little to do with politics.

Russian culture is portrayed as a powerful tool of the Kremlin to manipulate American public opinion and burnish the image of Russia. The allegations have been substantiated by zero evidence.

Our countries can develop stereotype-free perceptions of each other only through frequent and authentic cultural exchanges, and most important, by shaping the common values that are necessary for ensuring a safe and prosperous future for the entire world.

Russia and the United States, as the largest nuclear powers and permanent members of the Security Council, bear a special responsibility for this. The mutual isolation that has gripped politics and economic issues should not affect our cultural relations.

It is important to stop seeking political expediency and consider both countries’ long-term interests. Everyone benefits from greater cultural understanding between our two countries now and far into the future.

Anatoly AntonovWashingtonThe writer is Russia’s ambassador to the United States.

To the Editor:

Re “Computers Join the Fight,” by Susan Gubar (Living With Cancer, Science Times, Nov. 5):

I had a 2-D mammogram in 2015, and I was told that it was considered negative. In January 2016, I had a 3-D mammogram. My insurance did not cover it, but I elected to have it anyway.

It showed a small cancer in my right breast. The surgeon removed the lump and two lymph nodes, and she said she got it all. The lymph nodes were negative for cancer. I had radiation, and subsequent 3-D mammograms have been negative.

The doctor who performed the biopsy before the surgery in 2016 was the same doctor who read the 2-D mammogram in 2015. He remarked that when he looked at the 2015 2-D mammogram again in 2016, in retrospect he thought that he saw it.

Everyone should have a 3-D mammogram, and it should be compared with previous mammograms. Insurance companies should be paying for them for everyone.

I write this letter to honor my cousins, aunts and friends who died as a result of breast cancer.

Jeanne FriemanCary, N.C.

To the Editor:

In “Mexico’s Fast Track Toward a Failed State” (column, nytimes.com, Nov. 7), Bret Stephens writes that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has no intention of rethinking his approach to security policy. I disagree.

In a speech marking the first 100 days of his administration and in his daily news conferences, the president has explicitly acknowledged that our security strategy has not yet yielded the desired results. He has assumed responsibility for the Culiacán operation that failed to capture the son of the drug lord El Chapo, and stressed the importance of rectifying and adjusting security strategy.

Contrary to Mr. Stephens’s suggestion, only 10 percent of national guard members are deployed on our border with Guatemala, debunking his assertion of insufficient manpower to face cartels.

Furthermore, it is not true that much of the army is against President López Obrador. The comparison between Mexico and Iraq is flawed, and the use of the term “failed state” is ambiguous. In fact, our government is on a fast track to radical change.

Roberto Velasco ÁlvarezMexico CityThe writer is director general of public affairs for Mexico’s Foreign Ministry.

To the Editor:

Re “If Keanu Reeves’s Date Can Embrace Looking Her Age, I Can Too,” by Ali Drucker (Op-Ed, nytimes.com, Nov. 6):

After more than 30 years of coloring my hair, I decided to follow all my prematurely gray ancestors and go natural. It was both an easy decision and a difficult one.

It was easy to let go of the brutal touch-up ritual, but hard to embrace the fact that at my age, 56 at the time, I was no longer “prematurely gray.” Now that I’m 60, I find that I am struggling to accept myself as a genuine American-made, middle-aged woman.

While I love all the knowledge and wisdom acquired during six decades of living, I am still startled that I look like my mother when I pass a mirror! I am looking for that balance, that sweet spot in life to be able to joyfully project that I am still the me I’ve always been, just with a bit of wear and tear.

It is reality and I am looking for self-acceptance as much as acceptance from society. Thanks to Keanu Reeves and his lovely date, Alexandra Grant, for helping us see what’s in front of us.

Candee EmswilerSan Antonio