General Reyes, who was politically more ambitious than General González Valencia, could not forget the events of July 31, 1900, when Vice-President José Manuel Marroquín, with the aid of the military and the conservative party, had removed for m office President Manuel Antonio Sanclemente. Because President Rafael Reyes had opened the doors to a dialogue with the liberals, this made the conservatives very suspicious. Because General González Valencia was highly appreciated by both, the Army and the conservative party, this made General Reyes very uncomfortable. Thus, General Reyes had to contrive a plan to remove General González Valencia from the vice-presidency. He requested the intervention of two common friends of him and General González, the Ambassador of the Vatican City State, Nuncio Apostólico Monsignor Francisco Ragonessi and Don Luis Martínez Silva, to whom he expressed his concerns and intentions. General Reyes asked them to please communicate, in the best possible manner, to General González his decision.