The institute is named after Manuel Dorrego, an Argentine governor of the 19th century who was deposed and executed during the Argentine Civil Wars, but the scope includes as well other national heroes of Argentina, such as Juan Manuel de Rosas and Juan Perón, and Iberoamerican national heroes as Simón Bolívar and Bernardo O'Higgins.
Ramos was fired when he voiced his support for Daniel Scioli in the 2015 elections, and the institution was intervened.
The president during the intervention was Carlos Caramello, a close friend of the minister Aníbal Fernández.
Mauricio Macri, opposed to Cristina Kirchner, won the 2015 elections and became president in December 2015.
His minister of culture, Pablo Avelluto, closed the institute at the end of the month.