Peru's President Alejandro Toledo will travel to Seattle this weekend for talks with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates during which he will sign accords to support his Huascaran Internet-for-schools project.
Toledo, who announced a cabinet overhaul Friday to try to revive his flagging government, will travel to Seattle on Sunday and meet Gates on Monday, a government representative said. Toledo will return home Tuesday.
Peru's Plan Huascaran--named for the Andean nation's highest peak--was a key campaign plank for Toledo when he took office last July pledging to fight poverty.
Officials say Plan Huascaran has provided about 100 schools in Peru with Internet service and teaching tools. The government aims to increase that number to 5,000 schools by the end of Toledo's term in 2006.
The drive is part of a campaign to improve education--illiteracy rates are high, especially in isolated highland or jungle areas. More than a quarter of women in rural mountain areas, for example, cannot read.
Toledo marks a year in office July 28. His public opinion rating has sunk to less than 16 percent amid frustration at unfulfilled promises of more jobs and prosperity.
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