Complex sentence: It was, however, almost taken for granted that Perón would be toppled by the military before she could be removed from office by Congress; the media by then openly counted down the days to the expected coup d'état.
Split into simpler sentences: It was, however, almost taken for granted that Perón would be toppled by the military before she could be removed from office by Congress. By then, the media were openly counting down the days to the expected coup d'état.