[1] Despite his departure, Méndez continued to enjoy support from some factions of the party, as well as Army Major Virgilio Candia, a deputy to cavalry commander Colonel Néstor Ferreira.

[1] The coup got underway at about 8:00 p.m. on May 4, 1954, with an attack on police headquarters in Asunción by commandos from the Paraguayan Army's elite Battalion 40 led by Mario Ortega.

[7] During the assault, the young chief of police Roberto Pettit was shot and, though he was promptly evacuated by the attacking Army forces to a hospital, died from his wounds.

[7] President Chávez initially sought refuge inside the Francisco López Military College and offered to promote its director, Marcial Samaniego, to head of the Paraguayan Army.

[8][1] Virgilio Candia was promoted to the post of his former boss, Néstor Ferreira, as commander of the cavalry, but also faced dismissal along with other epifanista officers.

Colonel Mario Ortega, commander of Battalion 40, was appointed the new chief of police, the first in a long line of Army personnel to head Paraguayan law enforcement.