section_path: Early political career/Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán
section_name: Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán
paragraph_text: Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán
  
  In 2011, Bukele announced that he would enter politics as a member of the FMLN to break out of "his comfort zone" (" su zona de confort ") as a businessman. Officially joining the party in 2012, he campaigned for the mayoralty of Nuevo Cuscatlán, a municipality in the department of La Libertad, part of the San Salvador metropolitan area. Bukele's campaign was supported by the Democratic Change party. He was elected mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán in March 2012 with 51.67 percent of the vote, defeating primary challenger Tomás Rodríguez of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). Bukele took office on 1 May 2012 as the country's youngest mayor.
  
  Bukele created a scholarship program for youths in the municipality, donating his $2,000 salary to fund the program. Bukele launched Sphere PM, a project that launched a high-altitude balloon to an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,000 m) and took pictures of El Salvador, in August 2014. He stated that Sphere PM's goal was to promote education in science and technology to dissuade the municipality's youth from crime. Bukele spoke at United Nations headquarters about projects he had undertaken as mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán as part of the November 2014 World Cities Day. In January 2015, he inaugurated a $1.7 million boulevard connecting Nuevo Cuscatlán with Huizúcar and Antiguo Cuscatlán. Bukele did much of his mayoral work with funding from ALBA Petróleos, owned by the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA.: 239
  
  In 2011, Bukele announced that he would enter politics as a member of the FMLN to break out of "his comfort zone" (" su zona de confort ") as a businessman. Officially joining the party in 2012, he campaigned for the mayoralty of Nuevo Cuscatlán, a municipality in the department of La Libertad, part of the San Salvador metropolitan area. Bukele's campaign was supported by the Democratic Change party. He was elected mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán in March 2012 with 51.67 percent of the vote, defeating primary challenger Tomás Rodríguez of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). Bukele took office on 1 May 2012 as the country's youngest mayor.
  
  Bukele created a scholarship program for youths in the municipality, donating his $2,000 salary to fund the program. Bukele launched Sphere PM, a project that launched a high-altitude balloon to an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,000 m) and took pictures of El Salvador, in August 2014. He stated that Sphere PM's goal was to promote education in science and technology to dissuade the municipality's youth from crime. Bukele spoke at United Nations headquarters about projects he had undertaken as mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlán as part of the November 2014 World Cities Day. In January 2015, he inaugurated a $1.7 million boulevard connecting Nuevo Cuscatlán with Huizúcar and Antiguo Cuscatlán. Bukele did much of his mayoral work with funding from ALBA Petróleos, owned by the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA.: 239