The diplomatic mission arrived in Asunción on 20 February 1869. Asunción was then a small town of unpaved streets and many buildings constructed of little more than straw.[88] With Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López on the run, the country lacked a government. Paranhos had to create a provisional government which could sign a peace accord and recognize the border claimed by Brazil between the two nations.[89] Even with Paraguay devastated, the power vacuum resulting from López's overthrow was quickly filled by emerging domestic factions which Paranhos had to accommodate.[90] According to historian Francisco Doratioto, Paranhos, "the then-greatest Brazilian specialist on Platine[upper-alpha 4] affairs", had a "decisive" role in creating a democratic Paraguayan government.[upper-alpha 5] Paraguay thus survived as an independent nation.[91] Later, on 20 June 1870, preliminary peace protocols were signed.[92] The final peace treaty accepting Brazilian claims was signed in January 1872.[93]