He was chosen to receive a one-year grant, and while in the United States, Deeds and Meister helped him get into the University of San Francisco's special program for non-English speakers.

[28][30] Toledo received a BA degree in economics and business administration at University of San Francisco by obtaining a partial scholarship and working part-time pumping gas.

During the campaign, he promised to raise the wages of civil servants, which had been stagnant under Fujimori, and to create 400,000 jobs a year through programs designed to encourage agriculture, tourism, and small business.

The accord set forth twenty-four policy goals divided into four categories: democracy and the rule of law, equity and social justice, economic competitiveness, and an institutional framework of efficiency, transparency, and decentralization.

Peru is one of the largest producers of gold, silver, and zinc in Latin America, and some critics complain about the priority the Peruvian government gives to mining as opposed to industries like fishing and agriculture, with which indigenous peoples are more familiar.

[51] Despite unprecedented, strong, and consistent economic growth under his leadership, Toledo dealt with much labor unrest during his presidency as workers demanded higher wages and the fulfillment of campaign promises.

[53] Even as the Peruvian government was taking in too little money to pay civil servants, the country saw its cost of living increase dramatically during the early years of Toledo's administration.

Social safety-net spending in Peru remained well below the Latin American average under Toledo even as it covered a larger percentage of the population, which means that outlays were insufficient to lift many people up out of poverty.

Toledo's administration sought to improve access to affordable housing through subsidies, loans, down payments, land titling, and encouraging financial institutions to reach further down-market.

Under Fujimori local governments retained minimal legal authority including fees for utilities, basic civil registries, and management of public spaces and markets.

[57] However, when Peru Possible's rival political party APRA made significant gains in regional elections, the Toledo administration halted its decentralization program by withholding power in the areas of revenue and expenditure.

[47] The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which had been implemented by interim president Paniagua, was tasked with examining largescale acts of violence and atrocities committed within Peru between 1980 and 2000, to assess responsibility and pave the way for reparations.

The commission's final report to President Toledo was issued in 2003, and concluded that approximately 69,000 people had been killed by the Shining Path and other extremist groups, the bulk of the victims being innocent peasants.

[59] It was estimated that 54% of these victims were killed by the extremist guerrilla group Shining Path, 30% by the Peruvian Military and police forces, and the rest were by rural or peasant self-defense militias.

At a meeting of the 19-member Rio group in May 2003, Toledo proposed developing a joint strategy to deal with drug trafficking, but pressure from Washington, which preferred bilateral efforts, helped kill the notion.

Its major goals were promoting democracy outside Peru, addressing the struggle against poverty, encouraging economic development in the borderlands, reducing arms spending in the region, strengthening relations with Asia-Pacific countries, and integrating with the Andean Community of Nations.

The objective was for signing nations to gradually build up an infrastructure that would ease trade with one another, to cooperate in the improvement of energy efficiency, and to commit to future agreements that would increase cross border investment by eliminating double taxation.

(157) This included Chávez's official endorsement, and unofficial financial backing of leftist candidate Ollanta Humala in Peru's 2006 presidential race, which was soon seconded by President Morales.

In response to these concerns, Peruvian lawmakers created a Compensation Fund which directed $34 million per year to cotton, maize/corn, and wheat producers for a five-year period to help them adjust to the new competitive pressures.

Toledo decided not to carry out the sale of electric companies, but promised to continue privatization efforts, which were a key provision of a deal struck with the International Monetary Fund.

After his presidency, Toledo went to the United States, where he served as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, during the 2006–2008 academic years.

[77] In 2007, following the closing of media outlet RCTV in Venezuela, Toledo published an op-ed in The New York Times condemning the action of President Hugo Chávez's government as a violation of free speech.

The only way forward, the argued, is not unilateral action by the UN General assembly but a bilateral agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis, in which each party agrees to recognize the other as a legitimate state.

"[85] The general election, which took place on 10 April 2011, Toledo won 15.62% of the vote putting him behind leftist former army officer Ollanta Humala (with 31.75%), Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the former president (with 23.5%), and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (with 18.52%), and ahead of Luis Castaneda (with 9.84%).

[citation needed] Drawing on his close relations with Evo Morales, President-elect Humala visited Bolivia shortly after the election and suggested the possibility of reunification of the two countries, a proposal which Toledo explicitly rejected, warning that he would not "allow Peru to become another Venezuela or Nicaragua.

[92][93] In April 2016, Toledo was summoned to court on charges of money laundering over the purchase of several properties via Ecoteva Consulting, a real estate company owned by Israeli businessman Yossi Maiman.

[94] Toledo is accused of taking bribes from the Brazilian companies Camargo Corrêa and Odebrecht for the construction of the Interoceanic Highway, and using the money to pay off personal mortgages and buy luxury real estate in the name of his mother in law.

On 9 February 2017, a Peruvian judge ordered Toledo's arrest over allegations that he took $20m (£16m) in bribes from Odebrecht in return for awarding public works contracts, a reward was offered for his capture, and Interpol was alerted.

[101] On 21 October 2024, Toledo was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by the National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice for taking bribes as part of the Odebrecht case.

[103] "It is the force of his personality that has led this country to understand that in this globalized world, there is no alternative to regional integration, to free trade, to sane economic policies," said Jeffrey Davidow, the institute's president.