Alejandro Toledo, the peasant's son who shined shoes and sold snow cones to stay in school, who later came to the United States on a one-year scholarship and stayed to earn three Stanford degrees ("The Contender," March/April), is the new president of Peru.
In an election that international observers proclaimed fair and impartial, Toledo, MA '72, MA '74, PhD '92, defeated former Peruvian president Alan Garcia on June 3, becoming the first person of Indian descent to be elected leader of the country.
Although Toledo's extraordinary rise from poverty made him a populist figure, his campaign was damaged by reports of previous sexual indiscretions and drug use, allegations he denied. But he also was hailed as the primary force behind the ouster of authoritarian ruler Alberto Fujimori, who fled to Japan last fall after his closest aides were caught in a corruption scandal. Toledo's narrow victory over the once-despised Garcia -- whose presidency in the 1980s was marked by economic failure and terrorist activity -- was a sign, political observers said, that Toledo will have to govern by consensus.
Toledo, who often referred to Peru's glorious Inca past during his campaign, told supporters after his victory that "together we will build a modern nation, but one that celebrates its ancient heritage and its roots."
