In 1963, Ydígoras, despite the firm opposition of the Kennedy administration, had pledged to allow Arévalo return from exile and run in a free and open election. Arevalo returned on 27 March 1963 to announce his candidacy for the scheduled November presidential elections, however Ydigoras' government was ousted on March 31, 1963, when the Guatemalan Air Force attacked several military bases; the coup was led by his Defense Minister, Colonel Enrique Peralta Azurdia. The new régime intensified its counterinsurgency campaign against the guerrillas that had begun under Ydígoras-Fuentes.
