2007.02.11: February 11, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Peru: Politics: San Fransisco Chronicle: Alejandro Toledo drives a used SUV that he bought, cooks for his family, pushes a shopping cart at the local Safeway, has a Blockbuster card, carries his own luggage at the airport and plays soccer on public fields in Palo Alto

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Peru: Friend of the Peace Corps: Alejandro Toledo : Special Report: President Alejandro Toledo: 2007.02.11: February 11, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Peru: Politics: San Fransisco Chronicle: Alejandro Toledo drives a used SUV that he bought, cooks for his family, pushes a shopping cart at the local Safeway, has a Blockbuster card, carries his own luggage at the airport and plays soccer on public fields in Palo Alto

By Admin1 (admin) (ppp-70-245-26-66.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net - 70.245.26.66) on Sunday, February 11, 2007 - 10:10 am: Edit Post

Alejandro Toledo drives a used SUV that he bought, cooks for his family, pushes a shopping cart at the local Safeway, has a Blockbuster card, carries his own luggage at the airport and plays soccer on public fields in Palo Alto

Alejandro Toledo drives a used SUV that he bought, cooks for his family, pushes a shopping cart at the local Safeway, has a Blockbuster card, carries his own luggage at the airport and plays soccer on public fields in Palo Alto

Some 42 years after first coming to the Bay Area, Toledo has returned with his wife and daughter to spend at least a year at Stanford University. He is learning again how to use a computer, writing two books, lecturing worldwide and recharging his political batteries with an eye toward running for president again in 2011. Gone are the bodyguards, the chauffeurs, the bulletproof Mercedes, the presidential jet, the hounding reporters, the frenzied supporters, the merciless critics, the white-jacketed servants, the generals waiting at his beck and call, and the meetings with Presidents Bush, Chavez, Lula, et al. Alejandro Toledo grew up in Chimbote and was befriended by Peace Corps Volunteers who helped him study in the United States. Later he was a language instructor in Brockort's Peace Corps/College Degree Program. Elected President of Peru in 2000, Toledo invited the Peace Corps to return to Peru after a 27 year absence. He is presently a visiting Fellow at Stanford University.

Alejandro Toledo drives a used SUV that he bought, cooks for his family, pushes a shopping cart at the local Safeway, has a Blockbuster card, carries his own luggage at the airport and plays soccer on public fields in Palo Alto

From president of Peru to just Palo Alto guy

Tyler Bridges

Sunday, February 11, 2007

A short man wearing blue jeans and a windbreaker joined the other schlumps in the long line at the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Redwood City last September.

A couple of hours later, the man rejected a friend's suggestion that he pull strings to get a driver's license.

Just then, someone spotted him in line and asked: "What are you doing? Aren't you the president of Peru? Where's your bodyguard?"

"I used to be the president of Peru," replied Alejandro Toledo, whose five-year term ended in July.

Some 42 years after first coming to the Bay Area, Toledo has returned with his wife and daughter to spend at least a year at Stanford University.

He is learning again how to use a computer, writing two books, lecturing worldwide and recharging his political batteries with an eye toward running for president again in 2011.

Gone are the bodyguards, the chauffeurs, the bulletproof Mercedes, the presidential jet, the hounding reporters, the frenzied supporters, the merciless critics, the white-jacketed servants, the generals waiting at his beck and call, and the meetings with Presidents Bush, Chavez, Lula, et al.

Toledo drives a used SUV that he bought, cooks for his family, pushes a shopping cart at the local Safeway, has a Blockbuster card, carries his own luggage at the airport and plays soccer on public fields in Palo Alto.

When strangers recognize him, he tells them with a smile that he is actually Alejandro Toledo's twin brother.

"I love the freedom that I have now," he said.

Toledo's low-key manner doesn't surprise Bay Area friends who knew him before.

"He's treated as an ex-president wherever else he goes," said Martin Carnoy, a Stanford professor of education. "But at Stanford, he's just one of the guys. He's an incredibly nonpretentious guy."

Toledo came to the Bay Area in 1965 as a penniless 19-year-old student who had never left Peru or even flown on an airplane. He tripped on the first escalator he tried out, at Los Angeles International Airport.

He had grown up on a dusty patch of land in a stinking slum, one of 16 children, only nine of whom survived childhood diseases. Two Peace Corps volunteers helped him win a partial scholarship to leave Peru to study at the University of San Francisco.

Toledo learned English, worked the midnight shift at a Van Ness Avenue gas station and played soccer on the junior varsity squad under coach Steve Negoesco while getting an undergraduate degree. He drove a 1959 Triumph convertible with faulty brakes that he named Mellow Yellow and borrowed a roommate's sport coat for dates.

In 1970, Carnoy accepted him into Stanford's School of Education graduate studies program.

"He had the ambition of someone who has come from the bottom and clawed his way up, who has the ambition to go way beyond where anyone expected him to go," Carnoy said.

Toledo went on to earn two master's degrees and a doctorate from Stanford. He met his future wife, Eliane Karp, a French-Belgian graduate student, at a campus party.

Along the way, he secretly nourished the outlandish dream of being elected president of Peru.

After working for the World Bank and teaching at Harvard, Toledo returned to Peru. He wound up leading the opposition to President Alberto Fujimori, who bought off pliable opponents and used his secret police to intimidate and silence dissenters.

When Fujimori unexpectedly resigned in 2000, elections were called. Toledo won.

He stumbled badly in his first year.

His $18,000 monthly salary, the largest in Latin America, infuriated Peruvians. So did well-publicized late-night jaunts to posh restaurants, his frequent tardiness and his reluctance to acknowledge a teenager born out of wedlock while he was separated from Karp.

For the next three years, Toledo's approval rating languished around 10 percent, he had to be careful where he went in public to avoid being showered with eggs and rotten vegetables, and he fought off efforts to force him from office.

In time, Peru's economy boomed under his free-market and free-trade policies, and the poverty rate began to fall. Last year, during his final six months in office, while he remained unpopular, his approval rating shot up to 34 percent, according to one poll.

Watching Toledo, 61, tool around Palo Alto now, it seems hard to imagine that he led a California-sized country of 27 million people.

The first time he showed up to play in a regular pickup soccer game at Stanford last year, "all the Peruvians recognized him," said Tulio Mendoza, an IBM manager originally from Peru. "When we told the other players, they didn't believe that an ex-president would play with us. They thought we were joking."

Toledo joins the other players afterward at the Oasis in Menlo Park, where they talk soccer over pizza and beer.

After dinner, Toledo likes to visit the Dutch Goose, a peanuts-on-the-floor joint in Menlo Park, to shoot pool.

"He doesn't demand anything," said Hector Varela, a bartender. "He's just a sweet, nice guy."

Toledo said that after getting more than 100 death threats from Fujimori's henchmen and living in a fishbowl in Peru, first as a candidate then as president, he is reveling in his independence.

"Once again I'm a common citizen," Toledo said. "I don't have to be afraid for my safety. I'm enjoying the time to think and reflect. I look younger.

"In 10 years, I hadn't gone to a movie. I have seen 12 movies already. My family can't believe it."

The biggest adjustment for Toledo has been dealing with Bay Area prices and doing such mundane tasks as getting a driver's license and opening a bank account.

He visited eight car dealers before he found a used Toyota SUV at an acceptable price in Fremont.

He could not open a bank account until Stanford provided a letter saying it had him on its payroll.

Learning how to use a computer again was another challenge.

"When I was at Harvard (as a professor in the early 1990s), I was on the frontier of using the computer of that time," Toledo said. "But after I got into politics and became president, I became computer illiterate."

Carnoy said that after he helped Toledo buy a computer at the Stanford Bookstore, "He'd call me up and say he'd learned how to use Word and the Internet. He was so proud he learned how to use e-mail."

Stanford's current administration got its first exposure to Toledo as the 2003 commencement speaker.

When he made it known last year that he'd like to return to Stanford, the provost's office and the Hoover Institution came up with the money. The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, an independent think tank on the Stanford campus, offered him an office in a secluded setting.

"When a national leader like Toledo steps down," Provost John Etchemendy wrote in an e-mail, "it is essential that he have a chance to 'decompress': to reflect on his experiences and perhaps record those reflections; to think about the future and perhaps retool for new endeavors; and to share what he has learned with students and colleagues."

Toledo is updating his autobiography and is writing a book on anti-poverty strategies, although he has been criticized in Peru for not having done enough to reduce the ranks of the poor.

Karp, a onetime specialist in rural aid who is fluent in seven languages, is teaching a class called "Indigenous People and Social Inclusion." Their daughter Chantal is doing research for a professor and applying to Stanford and other universities for admission to a doctoral program.

Now widely traveled, Toledo was invited by former President Jimmy Carter to act as an election observer in Nicaragua last year and has invitations to give speeches in Europe, Asia and at other American universities.

But Toledo said his real pleasure these days is being in the Bay Area.

John Rick, a Stanford anthropology professor who works in Peru every year, said Toledo invariably gets special treatment at restaurants, although he doesn't seek it.

"Latins in any business or restaurant know who he is," Rick said. "He gets the best seat in the house, and the food is always perfect. People are amazed to meet him, almost reverent."

Tyler Bridges, a Stanford graduate, is Lima bureau chief of the Miami Herald. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com.




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: February, 2007; Friends: Alejandro Toledo; Figures; Peace Corps Peru; Directory of Peru RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Peru RPCVs; Politics





When this story was posted in February 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Contact PCOLBulletin BoardRegisterSearch PCOLWhat's New?

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Subscribe to Peace Corps News Date: January 14 2007 No: 1059 Subscribe to Peace Corps News
Don't miss our new web site, Peace Corps News, for the latest news about the Returned Volunteer community and what is going on with the Peace Corps around the world. Subscribe to our news feed to get Peace Corps news delivered to your desk as it happens. Then visit the Peace Corps Library, History of the Peace Corps, the worldwide RPCV Directory or leave a message for the RPCV community on the RPCV Bulletin Board.

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

February 2, 2007: This Month's Top Stories Date: February 2 2007 No: 1063 February 2, 2007: This Month's Top Stories
Peace Corps Volunteers in Guinea Are Safe in Mali 28 Jan
Lee Wilbur writes: Muslim media images are shocking 31 Jan
Gregory Acker plays African drums for 3rd Goal 31 Jan
"Jimi Sir" now available for free internet viewing 30 Jan
Is Civilian Reserve just another Bush throwaway line? 30 Jan
Tony Hall writes: What North Korea really wants 30 Jan
Paul Tsongas remembered on 10th anniversary 28 Jan
Ben Bell attends Washington march against Iraq war 27 Jan
First Peace Corps Volunteers to Serve in Cambodia 26 Jan
Phil Hardberger sees 'golden years' ahead for San Antonio 26 Jan
Doyle wants smoking ban in Wisconsin 24 Jan
Mark Udall to run for Colorado Senate Seat 17 Jan
Meredith Walsh works with Burmese refugees 16 Jan
Tschetter spends MLK Day with Habitat for Humanity 15 Jan
Robert Buckley founds Himalayan Healers 14 Jan
James Rupert writes: An aging king in Thailand 14 Jan
Michael O'Hanlon writes: A Skeptic's Case For the Surge 14 Jan
Senator Dodd opposes Iraq surge 11 Jan
Pat Waak celebrates 2008 Democratic Convention 11 Jan
Al Kamen writes: The six rules for Congressional Junkets 10 Jan
Bill Moyers slams Bush on global warming 10 Jan
Psychological biases favor conflict rather than concession 1 Jan

January 14, 2007: This Month's Top Stories Date: January 14 2007 No: 1050 January 14, 2007: This Month's Top Stories
Dodd declares candidacy in 2008 Presidential race 11 Jan
Malawi RPCVs found "Orphan Support" 11 Jan
John Garamendi takes oath as California Lt. Governor 8 Jan
Amy Smith prepares her students for field trips to remote villages 8 Jan
CES provides loans to rural constituents in Guatemala 6 Jan
RPCV Tom Bissell writes: Rolling Estonia 5 Jan
Lance Holter writes: 1st Lt. Ehren Watada risks it all 2 Jan
Paul Theroux writes: Remember the Cicadas 2 Jan
Louise M. Pascale republishes Afghan children's songs 31 Dec
Husband remembers Niger RPCV Mary Ann Hobson 30 Dec
Bob Leventry faces problems importing organic quinoa 29 Dec
Congressmen urge increase in diplomatic and development programs 27 Dec
Family says treatment after PCV death left bitter feeling 27 Dec
Family finishes project after PCV dies in shark attack 26 Dec
Mark Ridoff writes: Productivity doesn't aid middle class 24 Dec
Dodd says begin process of getting troops out of Iraq 24 Dec
PCVs caught in street protest in Bolivia 22 Dec
Honda named to powerful Appropriations Committee 22 Dec
PCOL and NPCA collaborate on story "Snowshoe Bob" 21 Dec
Alejandro Toledo charged in Forgery Scheme 21 Dec
Michael O'Hanlon writes: The State of Iraq 20 Dec
Carl Pope writes: Renewable energy offers new jobs 20 Dec

Ron Tschetter in Morocco and Jordan Date: November 18 2006 No: 1038 Ron Tschetter in Morocco and Jordan
On his first official trip since being confirmed as Peace Corps Director, Ron Tschetter (shown at left with PCV Tia Tucker) is on a ten day trip to Morocco and Jordan. Traveling with his wife (Both are RPCVs.), Tschetter met with volunteers in Morocco working in environment, youth development, health, and small business development. He began his trip to Jordan by meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and discussed expanding the program there in the near future.

Election 2006: Results of RPCV Races Date: November 8 2006 No: 1024 Election 2006: Results of RPCV Races
Chris Shays claims victory in closely watched race
Jim Walsh wins re-election to Congress in close race
Tom Petri unopposed for re-election to Congress
Sam Farr wins re-election to Congress
Mike Honda wins re-election to Congress
Jim Doyle wins re-election to Wisconsin Governorship
Kinky Friedman loses in long shot bid for Texas Governor
John Garamendi elected Lt. Governor of California

The Peace Corps Library Date: July 11 2006 No: 923 The Peace Corps Library
The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory or leave a message on our Bulletin Board. New: Sign up to receive our free Monthly Magazine by email, research the History of the Peace Corps, or sign up for a daily news summary of Peace Corps stories. FAQ: Visit our FAQ for more information about PCOL.

Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Date: September 23 2006 No: 996 Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps
Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

He served with honor Date: September 12 2006 No: 983 He served with honor
One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director Date: September 6 2006 No: 978 Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director
Read our story about Ron Tschetter's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was carried on C-Span. It was very different from the Vasquez hearings in 2001, very cut and dried with low attendance by the public. Among the highlights, Tschetter intends to make recruitment of baby boomers a priority, there are 20 countries under consideration for future programs, Senator Dodd intends to re-introduce his third goal Peace Corps legislation this session, Tschetter is a great admirer of Senator Coleman's quest for accountability, Dodd thinks management at PC may not put volunteers first, Dodd wants Tschetter to look into problems in medical selection, and Tschetter is not a blogger and knows little about the internet or guidelines for volunteer blogs. Read our recap of the hearings as well as Senator Coleman's statement and Tschetter's statement.

Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance Date: August 19 2006 No: 964 Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance
The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again Date: July 31 2006 No: 947 The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again
The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

PCOL readership increases 100% Date: April 3 2006 No: 853 PCOL readership increases 100%
Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

History of the Peace Corps Date: March 18 2006 No: 834 History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: San Fransisco Chronicle

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Peru; Politics

PCOL36131
55


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: