DNA reveals adopted children of 'Clarín' owner are not linked to the "disappeared"

Felipe and Marcela Noble, the adopted children of one of Argentina's richest women, are not genetically linked to two families that presented a legal claim in 2001 to find out whether the youngsters were the son and daughter of pregnant women who were killed after giving birth during the 1976-83 military dictatorship. On Monday, the country's National Genetic Data Bank (BNDG) said there was no link to the two families.

The first family, Lanoscou-Miranda, is searching for granddaughter Matilde, who disappeared after her parents were killed near Buenos Aires. The Gualdero-García family is seeking a boy, born after his pregnant mother was kidnapped in 1976.

Now, after the initial results presented by BNDG, it is clear that neither Marcela nor Felipe, who last month complied with a court ruling obliging them to provide DNA samples, belong to those two families, who were backed by the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo during the process. In the next few days, the Nobles' genetic material will be compared to other families whose grandchildren went missing.

Far from being a discreet affair, the matter has developed into a hot political issue in Argentina, especially after the brother and sister initially refused to offer DNA samples before being forced to provide elements of their underwear in a test that was later invalidated. The two were adopted by Ernestina Herrera de Noble, who has been accused of an alleged misappropriation, a crime that is severely punished in Argentina. The 86-year-old woman owns Argentina's biggest media conglomerate, Grupo Clarín, which has been at odds with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner since 2008.

Felipe and Marcela argued in an open letter in 2010 that they believe the investigation about their origins to be part of the "onslaught" by the government against the Clarín group. "We don't want to be used to attack our mother," they said back then.

The origin of the two Noble children has become so intertwined with national politics that it would represent a huge blow for Fernández's government if the DNA profiling reveals in a few days' time that they are definitely not linked to the country's "disappeared." Some 500 children were illegally adopted during the dictatorship. It would be the second disappointment for Fernández in a week, after Mauricio Macri clearly beat the government's candidate in the first leg of Buenos Aires Mayoral elections.