As visitador general, Bishop Palafox had powers to inspect practices in the viceroyalty, but the viceroy himself was protected from the inspector-general's inquiries, thus undermining his ability to pursue effective reform. Palafox's general mission was "to increase efficiency in government, strengthen royal authority, maximize the extraction of resources, and improve the administration of the viceroyalty", especially toward increasing the revenues for the crown. Blocked from effective reform, Palafox broke with Viceroy Diego López Pacheco Cabrera y Bobadilla in 1642, accusing the viceroy of being in league with Portugal, then at war with Spain to restore its independence following the Iberian Union; the viceroy was a cousin of the Duke of Braganza, since acclaimed king as John IV of Portugal. One scholar has characterized the suspicion of the viceroy's conspiring with rebels as being based on "slender evidence". Bishop Palafox claimed to have orders from the Crown, although he did not show them. He arrived secretly in the capital, and in the middle of the night of 9/10 June, he met with the Audiencia (high court) and laid out his suspicions. He then ordered that the viceregal palace be surrounded by guards. The following morning Viceroy López Pacheco was informed that he was under arrest and that the bishop had been named archbishop of Mexico and viceroy of New Spain. His possessions were confiscated and he was held for some time before being allowed to return to Spain. In Spain he was acquitted of the charges against him.