Nuevo Cuscatlán
| Nuevo Cuscatlán | |
|---|---|
| Municipality | |
 | |
| Nickname(s): la joya | |
  Nuevo Cuscatlán | |
| Coordinates: 13°39′N 89°16′W / 13.650°N 89.267°WCoordinates: 13°39′N 89°16′W / 13.650°N 89.267°W | |
| Country |
 El Salvador |
| Department | La Libertad |
| Government | |
| • Alcalde | Nayib Bukele |
| Elevation | 3,179 ft (969 m) |
Nuevo Cuscatlán is a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador. It is situated between the cities of Antiguo Cuscatlán and Santa Tecla, just a couple of minutes away from El Salvador's capital, San Salvador.
Nuevo Cuscatlán was a very poor town mostly unheard off, lacking basic infrastructure such as running water. But after the 2012 municipal elections, things changed. Nayib Bukele, a young, leftist businessman, from the FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional) was elected as mayor. He renounced his salary and increased everybody's pay, he didn't fire anyone (a common action in El Salvador, when an opposition party is elected into office). He ordered his staff to give free full college scholarships for any kid with good grades (a minimum average of 7.5 out of 10); to give monthly food aid to 100% of Nuevo Cuscatlán's seniors; to provide quality healthcare and to everyone paid by the municipality; free prescription drugs; free english classes; free computer classes; opened sport schools of soccer, basketball, volleyball, softball, karate, gymnastics, badminton, among others; started arts and crafts cooperatives for the poor, launched an alphabetisation campaign to free his municipality of illiteracy, started a new security program that has made Nuevo Cuscatlán one of the safest places in El Salvador, with 0 homicides since he took office. This, among other things, have make Nuevo Cuscatlán and its mayor a phenomenon in El Salvador's politics.
The mayor has been critized for raising taxes on big companies stablished there and promoting "socialism". However, businesses are investing in Nuevo Cuscatlán more than ever, driven by infrastructure projects, security and social services that provide a safety net for employers. Nuevo Cuscatlán fame has also helped the mayor to attract not only investments but also international aid, from organisations like USAID, UKAID, the OAS.
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