Alejandro Toledo

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Alejandro Toledo

91st President of Peru
In office July 28, 2001 – July 28, 2006
Prime Minister	Roberto Danino (2001), Luis Solari (2002), Beatriz Merino (2003) Carlos Ferrero (2003) Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2005)
Preceded by	Valentín Paniagua
Succeeded by	Alan Garcia

Born	March 28, 1946 Cabana, Peru
Political party	Perú Posible
Spouse	Eliane Karp
Profession	Economist

Alejandro Toledo (Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique)(born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian politician. He was the President of Peru from 2001 to 2006. He was elected in 2001 defeating former President Alan García. Toledo came to international prominence after leading the opposition against President Alberto Fujimori, who held the presidency from 1990 to 2000.

1 Early years
2 Professional career
3 Political career
4 Presidency
- 4.1 Foreign policy
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Early years

Toledo is one of sixteen children of a family of indigenous Amerindian campesinos in the town of Cabana, province of Pallasca, Ancash region. He grew up in Chimbote, a city on Peru's northern coast. His father was a bricklayer and his mother was a fishmonger. As a child, he worked as a shoeshine boy.

Toledo studied at the local state school, G.U.E. San Pedro. At age 19, with the guidance of members of the Peace Corps, Toledo enrolled at the University of San Francisco on a one-year scholarship. He completed his bachelor's degree in economics by obtaining a partial soccer scholarship and working part-time pumping gas. Later on, he attended Stanford University, where he received a Master's in Economics, a Master's in Education, and completed his PhD in Education (in 1992) at the Stanford University School of Education. After working abroad, he became a professor of Economics in the Universidad del Pacífico in Peru.

[edit] Professional career

Before being elected president, Toledo worked as a consultant for various international organizations, including the United Nations, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He has also been a regular professor at [ESAN] http://www.esan.edu.pe/, Peru's leading Business School. From [1991] to [1994], he was an affiliated researcher in the field of international development at the [Harvard Institute for International Development]. Toledo was also guest professor at the University of Waseda in Tokyo and at the Japan Foundation.

Among Toledo's publications are works on economic growth and on structural reforms. However, his latest book, Las Cartas sobre la mesa, describes his political career which led him to found the party Perú Posible ("Peru Possible").

[edit] Political career

Toledo entered politics as an independent candidate for the presidency (gaining 3% of the electorate) in the 1995 election in which Fujimori was ultimately re-elected. He founded the Perú Posible party in 1999 and declared his intent to run in the 2000 election. Despite a constitutional controversy about his eligiblity to serve a third term, Fujimori once again announced his candidacy.

A relatively low-profile politician, Toledo suddenly found himself leader of the opposition against Fujimori, receiving the support of most of the other presidential candidates [1]. Despite this, Fujimori managed to beat Toledo, amid allegations of electoral fraud. Toledo refused to participate on a second round against Fujimori (since none of them received at least 50% of the vote) and unsuccessfully petitioned to have the election annulled [2]. He later announced his withdrawal [3], but the Jurado Nacional de Elecciones didn't receive this petition and proceeded with the vote. He received 17% of the vote [4].

On July 28, 2000, Peruvian Independence Day, Fujimori assumed the presidency for a third term. Toledo led a group of protesters towards Congress, but was met with tear gas. Of the tens of thousands on the streets, many were peaceful, but others threw rocks and set federal buildings on fire. At least 80 people -- demonstrators and police -- were injured in the violence. Six persons were killed when a bank was set ablaze.[5] Toledo's followers blamed the head of the National Intelligence Service, Vladimiro Montesinos, for causing this fire; supporters of Fujimori blamed Toledo for instigating the first civil unrest in the capital in a decade.

On November 2000, amid growing allegations of fraud and corruption within his administration, Fujimori agreed for new elections to be held in 2001 in which he would no longer be a candidate. While attending at the APEC forum in Brunei, Fujimori's party lost control of the Congress. Fujimori then went to Japan from where he submitted his resignation by fax and claimed Japanese citizenship.

After the fall of Fujimori, the new president of the Peruvian Congress, Valentín Paniagua, became interim president and oversaw the already planned new elections on May 29, 2001. Toledo won after a close run-off election with former President Alan García of the APRA party. His margin of victory was slim (52.5% vs 47.5%), particularly in light of García's largely repudiated earlier presidential term (1985 to 1990). Toledo's inauguration took place on 28 July 2001.

[edit] Presidency

During the five years of his presidency, the Peruvian economy grew at an average of six percent, one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Inflation averaged 1.5 percent and fiscal deficit went as low as 0.2 percent. While markets in China and Thailand were opened, free trade agreement negotiations with the United States, Chile, Mexico and Singapore are about to conclude. These markets are generating new investments and jobs for the most needed Peruvians.

In the social area, the fight against poverty through health and education quality investment has been the central aim of his presidency. As a result of sustained economic growth and deliberate social policies directed to the most needed, extreme poverty was reduced by 25 percent in five years. Employment grew at an average rate of 6 percent in the period 2004-2006.

Alejandro Toledo (left) with Chile's former President, Ricardo Lagos.

The Peruvian economy grew steadily during 60 months at an average rate above 6%. In 2005 the economy grew 6.4%, driven by private investments and exports. Private investment was increasing significantly at the same time. In 2005 it grew 13.90%.

Much investment took place in the mining, commerce and agribusiness sectors.

During his government the country risk was among the lowest in the Latin American region. On July 2006 it was at 168 points.

The economic recovery and the measures taken in the administration of the tax policy have contributed to an increase in tax collection. The national tax burden reached 13.6% of GDP in 2005 and 14.9% in 2006.

Alejandro Toledo (center), next to Lima's mayor, Luis Castañeda Lossio (left).

The Peruvian economy showed one of the lowest inflation rates in the world. This stable macroeconomic context has allowed more Peruvians to apply for a bank loan in domestic currency in order to invest in their enterprises or buy more goods and real state boosting domestic demand.

In 2005 a new era began in the fight against extreme poverty with the creation of the conditional cash transfer program "Juntos" ("Together"). In the first year the budget was 120 million new soles and 100 thousand families benefited from it.

During 2001-2006 the Peruvian economy was focused on foreign markets.

[edit] Foreign policy

Alejandro Toledo along with South American heads of state, during the investiture of Chile's President Michelle Bachelet

One of Toledo's major legacies could be the free trade agreement (TLC) reached with the US, which will remove barriers to trade in services between the two countries. The pact currently awaits the ratification by the Peruvian and US Congress said to take place in 2006. Toledo has also pushed for an FTA with Thailand, which was agreed to be implemented during 2006. In South America, Toledo has encouraged the start of the development of a highway to open Brazil and Bolivia to Pacific ports, aimed at enhancing the economy of southern Peru, and opening Peru to the trade flows from Brazil towards Asia. Also, he is considered as the promoter of the South American Community of Nations.