Polishing shoes
He decided to go on and share his studies with the job. He became a frozen,
food seller and shoe polisher. School waited for him in the afternoons. He finished high
school and he met a couple of Americans from the Body of Peace, John and Nancy Maister,
who seeing his qualities decided to support him. With their help he arrived to San
Francisco University where he followed a bachelor’s degree. In order to pay his studies he worked baby-sitting and selling gas at
night. The studies were shared with difficult schedules which kept him studying sometimes
at 7:00 a.m., sometimes at 9:00 p.m. Moreover, he managed to be part of the university
soccer team as a center- forward player.
At Stanford
He finished his studies successfully and professor Wu, of whom he had become
a great friend, encouraged him to apply for Stanford University, in California. There, he
studied a Master’s degree and obtained his PhD in Economy and Human Resources. It was
1976 and now Alejandro Toledo Manrique had the world under his service.
First attempt
It was the final government period of Alan Garcìa and the name Toledo began
to sound as a possible Minister. Cautious, the economist from Ancash decided to wait. The
country fought against the chaos and it would be better to wait. Then he devoted to
professorship. Alberto Fujimori’s government came and he got in touch with power. He
was related to Escuela Superior de Administración de Negocios (ESAN) and there he met
some of the men who advised the President in his beginning, among them Santiago Roca. But
he was not asked to be in charge of a position. He followed the process of structural
adjustment, closely, when on April 5th he was surprised by the coup
d’etat. This disappointed him and he kept at a distance.
In 1995 Toledo was persuaded to try to run for the
presidency. He accepted and by the end of the recollecting process, he found that the
signatures he submitted were not enough. As a lifeguard, he received the help of CODE
headed by “Pepe” Barba Caballero, who supported his candidature. They allied and
CODE-Perú Posible came out,and that alliance would take Barba, Enrique Pulgar Lucas and
the journalist Denis Vargas Marín to the congress.
His proposal reached a decent third place. Experience
had taught him and now he keeps on trying, more secure and better equipped. On April 9th,
Peru will decide if it gives him its support or not.
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