Lima - The son of an Andean shepherd, Mr Alejandro Toledo, who rose from poverty to become the figurehead of Peru's pro-democracy movement, has won the presidency on his third attempt, Alex Bellos reports from Lima.
Crowds gathered in central Lima late on Sunday to cheer Mr Toledo's narrow victory over Mr Alan Garcia, a centre-left former president. They danced and chanted "Pach-acutec" - the name of the 15th-century Inca emperor who conquered most of the region before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.
Mr Toledo, a centre-right economist, is Peru's first freely-elected President of native Indian descent and probably the first President in Latin America to have made Indian pride a cornerstone of his campaign. With 75 per cent of the vote counted, he had polled 52 per cent to Mr Garcia's 48 per cent.
"Together we share a dream that Peru be a more just country, with more jobs, social justice and without corruption," Mr Toledo (55) told tens of thousands of supporters. "I want to extend my hand to the unemployed, the peasants, the workers, the young students, the farmers, the incapacitated, the miners. I want to open my arms to all people of all bloods to construct a Peru for all."
Mr Toledo, who has never held elected office, made much of his dark Indian features to reach the Indian and mixed-race population that makes up 80 per cent of Peru's 26 million people and yet suffers deep-rooted discrimination.
His life story struck a chord with many Peruvians, more than half of whom live in poverty. He was brought up in Cambote, a fishing town on the Pacific coast. Of his 15 brothers and sisters, seven died in infancy.
Mr Toledo worked as a shoeshine boy and chewing-gum vendor before winning a scholarship to study in the US, where a master's degree in economics and a doctorate in education were conferred upon him. He then worked as an economist for the World Bank. While in the US he met his wife, Belgian anthropologist Ms Eliane Karp, who speaks the Indian language, Quechua.
His first presidential election was in 1995, when he polled 4 per cent of the vote. In his second bid last year, Mr Toledo forced President Alberto Fujimori into a second round before pulling out of the contest, alleging vote-rigging. Mr Fujimori's victory was so tainted by corruption that he eventually fled to Japan.