Defense overtones clouds U.S.-Mexico scientific venture

[Judi Lynn]

Feb. 17, 2006, 3:48AM
Defense overtones clouds U.S.-Mexico scientific venture


Associated Press

SIERRA NEGRA, Mexico - In the biggest joint Mexico-U.S. scientific venture ever, builders are finishing a monster telescope on top of a volcano that will let astronomers look back 13 billion years and uncover secrets about the creation of the universe.

President Vicente Fox and Mexico's scientific community have championed the telescope, the largest of its kind in the world, saying it shows how a developing country can play a major role in cutting-edge technology.

Yet the fact that most of the U.S. funding comes from the Defense Department has worried some Mexicans who are leery of any military connections with their powerful northern neighbor.

"We want Mexico to be in the vanguard of scientific advance, but it would be better if all the money came from non-military sources," said Rosa Maria Aviles, a federal lawmaker on the lower house of Congress' Science and Technology Committee. "We are a pacifist nation."
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/3666441.html