Oct. 5, 2004

Peruvian President Receives President’s Medal

Alejandro Toledo, president of Peru, visited the School of Business on Sept. 21, and discussed the Peruvian economic environment and its integration into the global market in a speech that followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between GW’s Center for Latin American Issues (CLAI) and the Embassy of Peru.

James Ferrer, Jr., director of CLAI, opened the event and reported that the memorandum will intensify the program at GW related to Peru, including study abroad programs, cultural events, conferences and lectures, and what Ferrer described as an already-close relationship between the two.

After the signing ceremony, President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg honored President Toledo with the presentation of the GW President’s Medal. Established in 1988, the President’s Medal is the highest honor awarded by the president of the University. It recognizes the distinctive achievements of each recipient. Among the nearly 60 previous GW President’s medalists are Czech President Vaclav Havel, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and newscaster Walter Cronkite.

During Toledo’s speech, which was broadcast live to Lima, Peru, he spoke of his dream to better integrate Peru into the global economy, strengthen the Latin American coalition and reduce poverty in his country, efforts that he admitted have come at a personal political cost.

“I have more wrinkles and white hair since I began my life in politics nine years ago,” he joked.

During his time in office, he said the Peruvian economy has improved, while personal incomes and spending have increased and poverty has dropped. But Toledo and his people are dissatisfied with the trickle-down approach. Foreshadowing conversations he will have with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, he called for creativity among the international financial community to foster greater public investment for infrastructure like roads and power and social issues like health and education. “If we don’t increase public investment, democracy in the Latin American region is at risk,” he warned. “We need to construct a mechanism for wider investment.”

In his remarks Toledo, who rose from a humble background to become president of Peru in 2001, focused a portion of his remarks on stabilizing the economy of his nation — reducing the extreme poverty faced by nearly 190 million Latin Americans.

“There is another dimension to recovery, social recovery,” said Toledo. “Fifty-four percent of the Peruvian population live in poverty; 23 percent live in extreme poverty earning less than $1 per day.”

Toledo added that, tempting as it may seem, he understands that his nation’s poor will not be served in the long term by token economic handouts.

“Poverty will be reduced by sustaining the rates of economic growth, by making sure the benefit of that growth is better distributed and that it comes with deliberate social reforms without waiting for the trickle down.”

— This article originally appeared in GW Business News.

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