Government to reinforce funding for Genetic Data Bank following court order

The government announced that it will add AR$590 million (around US$415,000 at the official exchange rate) to the National Bank of Genetic Data (BNDG, in Spanish) following a court order demanding that the institution’s operation be guaranteed. The decision comes after Federal Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla ordered the Chief of Cabinet’s Office to ensure the continuity of the agency, which plays a key role in identifying children appropriated during the last dictatorship. In an official notice sent to federal judges on May 8, the institution’s technical director, Mariana Herrera Piñero, warned that it would no longer be able to carry out genetic testing requested by the judiciary “strictly due to budgetary reasons.” According to court filings, the budget approved by the government for 2026 covered only 55.96% of the funds requested by the BNDG, jeopardizing its ability to carry out essential forensic work and preserve genetic material. Ramos Padilla stressed that the institution fulfills an “essential and irreplaceable” role in crimes against humanity cases, as it is the official body responsible for conducting genetic analyses aimed at identifying the children of disappeared persons. The ruling ordered Chief of Cabinet Manuel Adorni to immediately allocate the necessary budget resources to guarantee the proper functioning of the BNDG, preserve the National Genetic Data Archive, secure critical supplies, and ensure compliance with judicial requests currently in force. Criticisms Although it complied with the court order, the government criticized the request. In a statement, it said the institution’s operational problems were due to “inefficient management of the currently available resources and the lack of momentum in its administrative and operational processes, and not to insufficient funding.” It even asserted that “there is no budgetary impediment to the continuity of the services that are indispensable for its proper functioning.” On that basis, the national government asked the judge to overturn the injunction issued on May 14 and defended budget management as an exclusive power of the Executive Branch and Congress. In one section of the filing, the government stated that the judicial decision represented “an alarming encroachment” by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Judiciary “on the powers that are proper and exclusive to the Executive Branch.” It also argued that ordering budget reallocations from the courts “would dismantle the republican system” and “introduce an imbalance in fiscal accounts.” With information from Ámbito