Ernesto Luis Muyshondt García–Prieto (Neto Menso) (born 30 August 1975

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

), is a Salvadoran businessman, politician and member of the

Nationalist Republican Alliance The Nationalist Republican Alliance ( es, Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, ARENA) is a conservative, right-wing political party of El Salvador. It was founded on 30 September 1981 by retired Salvadoran Army Major Roberto D'Aubuisson. It defines ...

(ARENA) party. He served as the Mayor of

, the capital and largest city in El Salvador, from 2018 to 2021. He was previously a deputy of the

Legislative Assembly of El Salvador The Legislative Assembly ( es, Asamblea Legislativa) is the legislative branch of the government of El Salvador. Structure The Salvadoran legislature is a unicameral body. It is made up of 84 deputies, all of whom are elected by direct popul ...

from 2015 until 2018.

Biography

In 2017, incumbent San Salvador Mayor

Nayib Bukele Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez (; born 24 July 1981) is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who is the 43rd president of El Salvador, serving since 1 June 2019. He is the first president since José Napoleón Duarte (1984–1989) not to have ...

was expelled from the

Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) is a left-wing political party in El Salvador. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on 10 October 1980, from five leftist gu ...

(FMLN) party. In response, Bukele announced that he would seek a new political party and run for president in the

2019 Salvadoran presidential election Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 3 February 2019, with voters electing a President and Vice President for a five-year term. With 90% of the votes counted, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal declared former San Salvador mayor Na ...

. The political upheaval came less than six months before the 2018 Salvadoran municipal elections, when voters would choose a new

Mayor of San Salvador The Mayor of San Salvador (Spanish language, Spanish: ) is the head of the municipal government of the city of San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador. History The position of Mayor of San Salvador was established on 1 April 1525 with ...

. The right-wing

(ARENA) selected Ernesto Muyshondt, a deputy in the Legislative Assembly, as its candidate. The ruling FMLN, which had held the mayor's office until it expelled Bukele from the party, chose

Jackeline Rivera Jackeline is a feminine given name. It is variant of Jacqueline, a French feminine form of Jacques which in turn comes from Jacob, a Hebrew name meaning "supplanter" or possibly "may God protect". Notable people with this name * Jackeline Estevez, ...

, a National Assembly deputy from Cuscatlán and former child soldier during the

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or ...

, as its candidate for mayor. Observers believed that Muyshondt had the edge in the race. Muyshondt easily defeated Rivera in the mayoral election on 4 March 2018. Muyshondt received 88,194 votes, or 61.2%, while Rivera placed a distant second with 39,736 votes, or 27.61%. Muyshondt was inaugurated as Mayor of San Salvador on 1 May 2018. In the

legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, held in February 2021, Muyshondt lost re-election for the Mayor of San Salvador against the candidate of

Nuevas Ideas Nuevas Ideas (Spanish for ''New Ideas'') is a Salvadoran populist political party founded on 25 October 2017 and based in San Salvador. It was founded by the current President of the Republic of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. It was legalized by the ...

Mario Durán Mario Edgardo Durán Gavidia (born April 3, 1983, San Salvador) is a Salvadoran politician and businessman, has worked in the public administration since 2012, he was Minister of the Interior in the Cabinet of President Nayib Bukele, and since M ...

. On 4 June 2021, he was placed under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

on suspicions of electoral fraud and illegal negotiations with gangs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muyshondt, Ernesto Living people 1975 births Mayors of San Salvador Members of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador Nationalist Republican Alliance politicians