After Reina Barrios assassination in 1898, he went back to practice law; however, when he had to defend his brother Abraham against some member of president Manuel Estrada Cabrera staff in 1906, he was forced to go into exile.

[2] He settled in San Pedro Sula, Honduras where he lived for fourteen years, returning to Guatemala after the events that brought down president Estrada Cabrera in April 1920.

[2] Besides being the Secretary of Finance, Baudilio Palma was also the second designated to the office of the Presidency in case general Lázaro Chacón González was to die.

[4] When Chacón suffered a stroke that kept him from performing his presidential duties, Palma, supposedly in agreement with the rest of the cabinet, was appointed acting president,[5] even though he was the second designated and not the first.

[2] However, on 16 December 1930 a coup d'état led by General Orellana Contreras and Luis Leonardo forced Palma to resign after a short battle inside the Presidential Palace.