Alejandro Toledo

Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique ( Spanish: [aleˌxandɾo selesˌtino toˌledo manˈrike]; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, who held the presidency from 1990 to 2000. On 21 October 2024 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for taking $35 million in bribes to award the Brazilian company Odebrecht with a highway contract.

He pursued his undergraduate and graduate education at the University of San Francisco and Stanford University. He originally joined the technical and academic field, from where he participated as an analyst on politics and economics on some occasions. He entered politics when he founded the Possible Peru party, participating for the first time in the 1995 Peruvian general election. In 2000, he managed to become the largest opposition leader to the government of Alberto Fujimori, before whom in the midst of a controversial and bumpy process, lost the election for a second time. After a transition stage, he participated for the third time in the 2001 Peruvian general election against Lourdes Flores of National Unity and Alan García of the Peruvian Aprista Party; he competed with the latter in the second round, winning with 53.1% of the popular vote.