On 20 December 1943, the RADEPA-MNR alliance overthrew the government. Former economy minister Víctor Paz Estenssoro announced in a broadcast, "Bolivian people, the work of iniquity has ended. The nation has ceased to be the property of the Peñaranda Rivera Castillo family." Villarroel was allowed to take residence in the Palacio Quemado as de facto president while members of the MNR, including Paz Estenssoro, took various positions in his cabinet. At age 35, he was one of the youngest presidents in Bolivian history.