After Arana assumed his new and powerful position, an American embassy official stated in a dispatch that Arana was the type of personality that might assume dictatorial power. On 16 December 1945, Arévalo was seriously injured in a car accident and incapacitated for a period. The leaders of the Revolutionary Action Party (PAR), the party that supported the government, were afraid that Arana would take the opportunity to launch a coup. A handful of its leaders approached Arana and made a deal with him, which later came to be known as the "Pacto del Barranco" (Pact of the Ravine). Arana agreed to refrain from seizing power with the military; in return, the PAR agreed to support Arana's candidacy in the next presidential election, scheduled for November 1950. This undertaking was given in writing. However, it was kept a secret; the American embassy only learned of it in 1947. Arévalo himself recovered swiftly, but was forced to support the agreement.