87
drafts of the future agreements were compiled and sent to the ministries of the
exterior of all the countries involved.
Our aim was to articulate good, fair, and lasting agreements that would
smooth the path for the arrival of modern telescopes from all over the world
to our observatories. We had seen how, in other countries, the establishment
of foreign observatories had failed to generated autochthonous modern
astronomy so that only a select few of the local astronomers managed to
achieve an international reputation. We were not prepared to let the same
thing happen in the Canaries. Given that we were fortunate enough to have
on our territory such attractive sites for observing the Universe, we felt obligated to obtain the maximum benefit from this publicly-owned natural
resource. The concepts ‘public’ and ‘national’ were the deciding factor in our
negotiation strategy. We were adamant that the telescopes should be set up in
wholly Spanish observatories in terms of land, infrastructures, laws, etc.
The initial approach of our foreign colleagues was the one they had adopted
in South Africa, Australia, Chile, and even the south of Spain: purchase land
and obtain permits to build their own observatories—in other words, genuinely self-sufficient foreign enclaves, using local manpower strictly for auxiliary services. Observatories were to be mere observing outposts in foreign
parts, where everything—even toilet paper—had to be imported (that is no
exaggeration, the British in La Palma initially imported it from Britain).
Observations would be planned in the country of the owner institution, and
the data taken back to the metropolis, there to be analysed and published. A
purely colonialist concept: extract the natural resource at the lowest possible
cost, take it back home for manufacture, and retain the benefits.
We began the negotiations with our anti-colonialist principles firmly in
mind. We aimed high: we aspired to a treaty at international level among
national governments that would provide safeguards and stability for cooperation over long periods of time. We were also clear about what we were not
prepared to accept. We knew that time was on our side, for at that precise
moment our partners needed to formalize agreements as quickly as possible in
order not to lose the funding they had acquired for finishing their telescopes,
buildings, and domes. But neither could we be over-insistent for fear that our
partners might have second thoughts and decide to go elsewhere.
In 1979 the International Astronomical Union celebrated its triennial general assembly in Montreal, and the British took the opportunity to convince
the Dutch and Danes to join their project, and also to coordinate better with
the Swedes. From then on, it was the British who dominated the foreign side
of the negotiations.
10 A Multinational Astrophysics Treaty (1960–2014)
drafts of the future agreements were compiled and sent to the ministries of the
exterior of all the countries involved.
Our aim was to articulate good, fair, and lasting agreements that would
smooth the path for the arrival of modern telescopes from all over the world
to our observatories. We had seen how, in other countries, the establishment
of foreign observatories had failed to generated autochthonous modern
astronomy so that only a select few of the local astronomers managed to
achieve an international reputation. We were not prepared to let the same
thing happen in the Canaries. Given that we were fortunate enough to have
on our territory such attractive sites for observing the Universe, we felt obligated to obtain the maximum benefit from this publicly-owned natural
resource. The concepts ‘public’ and ‘national’ were the deciding factor in our
negotiation strategy. We were adamant that the telescopes should be set up in
wholly Spanish observatories in terms of land, infrastructures, laws, etc.
The initial approach of our foreign colleagues was the one they had adopted
in South Africa, Australia, Chile, and even the south of Spain: purchase land
and obtain permits to build their own observatories—in other words, genuinely self-sufficient foreign enclaves, using local manpower strictly for auxiliary services. Observatories were to be mere observing outposts in foreign
parts, where everything—even toilet paper—had to be imported (that is no
exaggeration, the British in La Palma initially imported it from Britain).
Observations would be planned in the country of the owner institution, and
the data taken back to the metropolis, there to be analysed and published. A
purely colonialist concept: extract the natural resource at the lowest possible
cost, take it back home for manufacture, and retain the benefits.
We began the negotiations with our anti-colonialist principles firmly in
mind. We aimed high: we aspired to a treaty at international level among
national governments that would provide safeguards and stability for cooperation over long periods of time. We were also clear about what we were not
prepared to accept. We knew that time was on our side, for at that precise
moment our partners needed to formalize agreements as quickly as possible in
order not to lose the funding they had acquired for finishing their telescopes,
buildings, and domes. But neither could we be over-insistent for fear that our
partners might have second thoughts and decide to go elsewhere.
In 1979 the International Astronomical Union celebrated its triennial general assembly in Montreal, and the British took the opportunity to convince
the Dutch and Danes to join their project, and also to coordinate better with
the Swedes. From then on, it was the British who dominated the foreign side
of the negotiations.
10 A Multinational Astrophysics Treaty (1960–2014)