Pre-hispanic History The area that is Jojutla today was covered by the internal Sea of Plancarte in the
Paleozoic Era. The first inhabitants are believed to have arrived 22,000 years ago. Although fragments of
obsidian, ceramic, and pottery have been found in the atriums of the chapels of
Teocalzingo,
Guadalupe, and
Tlatenchi, no serious archaeological studies have been undertaken in the area. The
Codex Mendoza tells us that people lived in Jojutla from 1425 to 1436
CE, when they were conquered by the troops of
Izcóatl and
Nezahualcóyotl, and submitted to the
Calpixca Acolhua of Tlaquiltenango and the lordship of
Cuauhnáhuac. The area was governed by Tlaquiltenango, particularly after the arrival of the religious orders in 1549 and 1604. On April 14, 1895, at the initiative of a group led by the priest
Agapito Mateo Minos Campuzano, Jojutla celebrated its bicentennial.
Revolution & 20th century There was a bloody battle during the
Mexican Revolution until the city was taken and looted by Maderistas under the command of
Pablo Torres Burgo, and
Gabriel Tepepa. The Revolutionaries sacked the city.
21st century Andres Eloy Martínez Rojas, a Mexican astronomer (b. Cuernavaca, 1953) discovered a crater on Mars, which he named
Jojutla. In 2017 the asteroid
(6159) Andréseloy (1991 YH) was named in his honor. An illegal, secret graveyard used by the government was discovered in Jojutla in March 2017. This was similar to the one found in
Tetelcingo two years earlier. Of the 85 bodies found in Jojutla, 54 involved cases that the police had not even bothered to investigate. 30,000 people have "disappeared" in Mexico in the years up to February, 2018. Jojutla was hit harder than anywhere else in Morelos during the
September 19, 2017 earthquake. At least 73 people died and hundreds were injured. 652 homes were destroyed, 1,157 were damaged, and many other buildings, including schools and the
Palacio Municipal (city hall), were damaged. More than two years later, in January 2020, residents were still waiting for reconstruction. Juan Angel Flores Bustamonte of
Juntos Haremos Historia (Together we will make history coalition) was elected Presidente Municipal (mayor) in the election of July 1, 2018. Two parachutists died on March 23, 2019, when their equipment failed and they landed in the
Autopista del Sol at Kilometer 132, near
Jardines de Mexico. They were employed by a school of parachutes in the area. Festival Vaivén 2019 (art & music festival) was held in
Jardines de Mexico on March 30, 2019. Schools and many businesses were closed from mid March until June 1. In 2019 Hortencia Figueroa Peralta from Jojutla, former leader (
PRD) of the state legislature, was convicted of misuse of MXN $23.7 million earmarked for employees. She won a temporary injunction against being sent to prison, but in May 2020 that expired and she will soon be sent to the state penitentiary in Atlacholoaya. The state of Morelos reported 209 cases and 28 deaths due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico, as of April 27, 2020. Schools and many businesses were closed from mid March until June 1. On June 2, Jojutla reported 94 confirmed cases and 17 deaths from the virus; the reopening of the state was pushed back until at least June 13. Jojutla reported 211 cases, 145 recuperations, and 46 deaths from the virus as of August 31. Three hundred sixty-two cases were reported on December 27, 2020. The hospital dedicated to the care of serious COVID-19 cases reached 100% capacity on January 15, 2021. ==Notable People==