In the 1970s, a group of left wing students, workers and farmers organized with the intent of taking control of the local county through elections, instead of by force.

The project will make Juchitán the center of the alternative energies in Mexico becoming an example to the rest of Latin America as the eolic park would be the largest in all the region.

[4] In February 2021 the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) and Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) reached an agreement with Santa María del Mar agency to allow the operation of 540 kV solar power plant, providing electricity for the first time in ten years.

[5] In October 2024 President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that a temple would be constructed in Juchitan de Zaragoza.

[9] Entire streets were destroyed,[10] its 1860 municipal palace suffered notable destruction, with a large part of the building completely collapsed.

In May, residents celebrate the Fiesta de las Velas (Festival of the Candles) in honor of its patron saint San Vicente Ferrer, with a large procession.

In a slide-illustrated lecture and book, anthropologist Anya Peterson Royce shows how the Zapotec use flowers, processions and prayer in rituals that protect and guide spirits on their journey of dying.

[14][15] The municipality also has a reputation as a significant oasis of tolerance and respect for LGBTQ people in Mexico, due to the traditional Zapotec culture of muxes.