Review by Choice Review
A Peruvian politician, Toledo was never popular during his presidency of Peru (2001-6), yet many of his policies had very positive effects on his country. Among them was his strengthening of democracy, achieved by establishing the National Accord, encouraging political decentralization, and setting up Juntos, a conditional cash transfer program that lowered poverty and began to address income inequality. Such policies in Peru and the rest of Latin America--along with the commodity boom--helped make the last 15 years a positive and transformative period in the region's history, Toledo's book partly trumpets his role, partly describes the Latin American success, and partly tries to project and prescribe for the future. His emphasis on the importance of income distribution and on the growing role of China moves beyond a simple extrapolation of the last 15 years. His vision for Latin America's future is very optimistic, and some elements are realistic, e.g., normalization of relations between the US and Cuba. However, maintaining Latin America's positive momentum will be more challenging than Toledo admits, and it will require luck and hardheaded policy adjustment, as well as vision. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --Kenneth P. Jameson, emeritus, University of Utah
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
