 Elected President of the Justicialist Party National Council, he ran in the May 1988 primary election for the upcoming presidential campaign.He failed to regain the support of the CGT, or to sway delegates from the smaller provinces, and lost to less well-known Carlos Menem, who subsequently won the 1989 general election.Menem appointed Cafiero Ambassador to Chile in 1992, and Cafiero returned to elected office as a Senator in 1993.