Mergers and dissolution of institutes and museums in the National Culture

A news bomb exploded in the National Culture Department following the victory of La Libertad Avanza in the City of Buenos Aires, which was nationalized by both the ruling party and the opposition despite being a local election. The fuse was lit by a decision made by the Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation , headed by Federico Sturzenegger. It affects museums and historical institutes.

Brief preliminary summary: some decentralized organizations, both in their administrative and artistic management, are now centralized . Everything related to their administration will be in the hands of the National Secretariat of Culture, headed by Leonardo Cifelli, who reports directly to the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei. In his department , the strategy of the libertarian "cultural battle" is being outlined and finalized.

According to undisputed official sources, the newly centralized bodies include the National Museum of Fine Arts (which will report to the Undersecretary of Heritage, headed by Liliana Barela), the Palacio Libertad (formerly the CCK), Tecnópolis, Conabip (Public Libraries), and the National Monuments Commission. The latter will be replaced by an ad honorem Advisory Council, which will report directly to Secretary Cifelli.

Sturzenegger's chainsaw will also be applied to several historical research institutes, such as the Yrigoyenian National Institute and the Juan Manuel de Rosas Institute, which will be merged into a single, ad hoc institution, along with three others that will be dissolved: the Brownian, Belgranian, and Newberian national institutes. Although these last three will disappear as such , their activities and research will be "brought together" into a new National Institute of Historical Research. This is what we have been told. We'll have to wait and see.

Let's now take a closer look at some of these changes, adjustments, or "tweaks," as you prefer to call them.

The National Commission of Historic Monuments , which oversaw all political negotiations in the cultural sphere, will cease to exist and will be replaced by an ad honorem Advisory Council, whose decisions will be binding. To put this into context: today, the Commission is an autonomous decision-making body; the current president, Mónica Capano, comes from the Albertist administration and has a six-year term. The members of the new Council will also be changed.

Among those that survive but will change status are the Instituto Nacional Sanmartiniano , which will become a National Museum, and the Instituto Nacional de Estudios Eva Perón , which will legally become a Museum , because according to the spokespeople consulted, "both organizations, due to their heritage and buildings, have museum-like characteristics and attract visitors and tourists. Given the importance of their collection, they will be national museums."

The Evita Museum is one of the most visited in the country and a favorite with tourists. Legally, it is an Institute for Studies on the historical figure of Eva Duarte. Under the new modification, it will formally be structured as a National Museum, despite the fact that its collection is private and belongs to the family.

And what will happen to CONABIP ? We wanted to know. Spokespeople emphasized that "its funding mechanism will remain unchanged and federalism will not be affected." This means, according to the sources, that the "special fund" created by Law 23,351, to provide direct benefits to public libraries recognized by CONABIP, will remain in effect as before. In other words, a decree cannot modify the provisions of the law.

But if the unexpected measures are surprising, wait for the reader to learn two more gems of Sturzenegger's decision, which he will apply surgically to Culture.

The National Theater Institute (INT) was one of the topics under discussion since that first, mile-long DNU (Decree) presented by President Javier Milei in Congress, also drafted by Sturzenegger, which drastically reduced central administration and cut several cultural institutions to the bone. This was the case, later dismissed, of the National Arts Fund (FNA), now fully operational under the presidency of Tulio Andreussi. Now, the INT will be centralized, which entails reducing its structure.

The Theater Law requires that only 10% of the budget be spent on contracts and operating expenses, and 90% be invested in promoting theater activity. In 2024, according to sources, "65% of the budget was spent on personnel and operations, and only 35% was spent on the theater. We are going to change this pattern by avoiding duplicate functions, bureaucracy, and oversized structures, so that specific allocations go to the theater and not to the state bureaucracy."

If any activity is close to Secretary Cifelli's heart, it's theater. So much so that last week he launched his new musical revue, which pays homage to the genre and revives its theatrical heritage.

The INT will cease to be an organization of that rank and will become a National Directorate, with the same funding mechanism, according to government sources. However , the Board of Directors and the provincial representatives, which comprise 24 paid officials, will be eliminated . According to them, "these contracts, which will be rescinded, represent a savings of more than 150 million pesos per year. This was not invested in the theater. Now there will only be an ad honorem Advisory Board, made up of representatives of the theater industry, and that money will be allocated to theater activities."

This new Theater Directorate will report directly to Cifelli. Federico Brunetti, currently Undersecretary of Cultural Promotion, will take over as National Director. Mariano Stolkiner, currently in charge of the INT, will join the Cabinet of the National Secretary of Culture.

Regarding the new National Institute of Historical Research, which will assume the functions of the aforementioned institutes being dissolved, it will be "given the status of a dedicated research and study of the nation's heroes and important figures, and not just a few," said a senior official source.

Readers should prepare for the new organization to open its doors to the study of politicians who died in the 21st century, too. We'd bet that Carlos Saúl Menem will be one of the figures analyzed. But there's still one fact that will fuel the debate: the Juan Domingo Perón National Institute , which, due to these changes to the structure of the central public administration, fell under the purview of the Ministry of Human Capital, headed by Sandra Pettovello, will be dissolved.

Don't panic. The aforementioned institutions, whether they are dissolved, have their structures modified, or are merged, will maintain their budget allocations for their specific activities.

The question that remains is what will happen to the staff. Although some of them are understaffed, there's no doubt that by concentrating the administration of all of them, the sword of Damocles hangs over the human resources department.

Government sources attempted to summarize the rationale behind this major decision by Minister Sturzenegger, which does not only affect the cultural sector, but is the one that interests us. "In order to reduce state intervention and maximize the effectiveness of public management, it is imperative to review redundant functions or those whose contribution is marginal, thus ensuring that public resources are allocated more rationally and effectively," they conclude.

To achieve this, " paid councils are being eliminated, administrative structures are being reorganized, and processes are being simplified , while maintaining their functions and associated budgets, but we will work toward a culture of quality more efficiently."

The full extent of this logic remains to be seen. In an election year, many will succumb to the temptation of waging the libertarian cultural battle from the cultural platform currently led by Secretary General Karina Milei , strengthened by the victory of La Libertad Avanza (LLA) in Buenos Aires, a PRO bastion for 20 uninterrupted years.