BY LUCIEN O. CHAUVIN
 Special to The Herald

 LIMA -- Back in July, when Alejandro Toledo made history as the first indigenous Peruvian elected president, he was the hero of this Andean nation. But in the brief period since then, Toledo has become the first president in recent memory to see his support slip by almost half after less than four months in office.

 Toledo's approval rating in monthly surveys by the APOYO polling firm has fallen from 59 percent in his first month in office to only 32 percent in mid-November. In 1985, then-President Alan García boasted 86 percent support in his first 100 days, and former President Alberto Fujimori claimed a 59-percent approval rating.

 What's worse, the president's nose dive in the polls is not so much about policies, apparently, but about Toledo himself -- his salary, his lack of punctuality, allegations of nepotism. The complaints about his presidential style have largely overshadowed Toledo's efforts to make good on promises to improve Peru's shattered economy.

 ``There is a very negative image about the president's style. His tendency to arrive late to every event and live a lavish lifestyle have created an impression that he is not serious about the job,'' says political analyst Baco Sacio Bestetti.

 During Toledo's time in office, his tardiness has been baptized ``Cabana Time,'' after the president's hometown. The president's average delay is about two hours, but the last time he visited Cabana, he kept everyone waiting four hours. News programs now include, as part of their reports, how long events are delayed by the president's customary tardiness.

 One of the president's highest negatives is his salary, which was set at $18,000 a month after he took office July 28. The salary was higher than that of any other
 president in Latin America and was immediately criticized as a slap in the face to average Peruvians, who earn a monthly minimum wage of $120. Peru's per capita
 income has been in a tailspin since 1997, falling to $2,000 this year.

 Although the head of the cabinet, a Toledo appointee, sets the wages for the principal members of the executive branch, Toledo resisted cutting his own salary until early November, when he announced he was lowering the amount to $12,000.

 Even so, it is nearly twice as high as the salary of President Andrés Pastrana of neighboring Colombia, and nearly four times the $3,500 earned by President Fernando de la Rúa of Argentina.

 ``Lowering his salary was a wise move, but he should have done it right away. His credibility has suffered for waiting so long,'' says Sacio.

 There are also problems with family members working in the government, which violates nepotism laws. The palace has argued that Toledo's relatives, nephew Jorge and niece Jessica, work in the palace but are not paid by the executive so it is not nepotism. Still, Toledo's nephew receives a $5,000 monthly salary from the U.N.
 Development Program as part of a project to modernize the government, and his niece was hired by Congress for $1,500 a month and ``loaned'' to the palace.

 Jessica Toledo has returned to the Congress, but the government argues that there is no need to dismiss the president's nephew. In the APOYO poll, 85 percent of
 people polled say Jorge Toledo should be ousted.

 Alvaro Vargas Llosa, a journalist and author who worked closely with Toledo until they had a nasty break last April over issues of both policy and Toledo's personal life, says the president's style has created the impression of government that is not very serious.

 ``The signals sent out by the president make it seem like he is surrounded by relatives and friends who are in power to prosper and have fun,'' Vargas Llosa stated. ``If I had to sum up the government with one phrase, I would say Toledo governs more like a political boss than a president.''

 NAGGING PROBLEMS

 Then there is the matter of the president's October trip to the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in China. After Toledo was accused of taking a host of friends with him on the presidential jet, the palace press office declared that no official list of passengers existed.

 Toledo also has been unable to shake nagging problems that hounded him on the campaign trail, such as accusations of fathering an illegitimate child and $700,000 in
 campaign donations transferred to Jorge Toledo's bank account in the United States. And the president's taste for late-night carousing at five-star restaurants in Lima has become a sort of urban legend. Local newspapers report that his favorite haunts include La Gloria, La Trattoria and Rafaels in the upscale Miraflores part of town, where he has been seen eating and drinking until early morning.

 Rep. Rafael Rey of the opposition National Unity coalition says Toledo has demonstrated a clear lack of leadership in his first few months in office.

 "All we have seen so far are inconsistencies, personal scandals and lack of direction. Add to this all the broken campaign promises and you have a government without leadership,'' Rey says. "People feel Toledo lied to them.''

 FLIP-FLOPS

 The government has backpedaled on a number of major campaign pledges, including the construction of a highway linking Peru to Brazil, creating free-trade zones in
 border areas and setting up a farmers' bank. Street demonstrations over the government's flip-flopping have become weekly events throughout the nation.

 Toledo and his ministers dismiss much of the criticism, laying the blame on Fujimori, who fled the presidency in November 2000 and now lives in Japan, and his national security advisor, Vladimiro Montesinos Torres, who is in jail on corruption charges.

 In an early November trip to his hometown, Cabana, Toledo said there were dark forces trying to destabilize his government. He promised to "take to the streets to defend democracy.''

 Such statements, however, have hurt more than helped. Lourdes Flores Nano, a presidential candidate in the April 2001 elections, says Toledo needs to stop acting like a candidate and start governing. In public opinion polls, more than 70 percent of Peruvians says they disapprove of the president's communication style.

 STEPS TO BOOST ECONOMY

 The president's image problems have sidetracked attention from the administration's successes.

 The government has secured more than $1 billion in donations and loans to reactivate the economy and has inaugurated important programs to create jobs and modernize the country's education system. The economy expanded in September and October, the first back-to-back increases in nearly a year, and the currency, the Nuevo Sol, is one of the few in Latin America that has gained ground against the dollar this year.

 There have also been important budget increases for education and health care and a reduction in military spending. The first civilian defense minister in the country's
 history was appointed by Toledo.

 Cabinet Chief Roberto Dañino -- the man who set Toledo's salary at $18,000 -- says that while he would like to see better poll numbers he believes the administration is on the right track.

 "We could have opted for populist measures to increase our popularity, but that would not have been serious. We have opted for coherent social and economic policies that will not have immediate effect in a country suffering four years of recession,'' said Dañino. ``What is important is where the policies will lead us in the future, which is better economic conditions.''

                                    © 2001