Mexican senators came to physical blows on Wednesday after a heated debate over alleged opposition calls for the United States to intervene militarily against drug cartels.
The clash erupted when Alejandro Moreno, leader of the opposition PRI party, stormed the podium at the end of the session to confront Senate President Gerardo Fernández Noroña of the ruling Morena party, accusing him of denying him the floor.
A video posted on the Senate’s social media showed Moreno shoving Fernández Noroña several times, slapping him on the neck, and pushing another senator who attempted to intervene to the ground.
The scuffle followed a tense debate in which the ruling party accused the opposition PRI and PAN of seeking U.S. military involvement in Mexico’s fight against drug cartels — an accusation both parties strongly denied.
After the incident, Fernández Noroña announced plans to file a complaint against Moreno for bodily harm and to seek the lifting of his legislative immunity. “The debate could be very harsh, very bitter, very strong… today when opposition legislators are exposed for their treason, they lose their minds because they were exposed,” he stated.
Moreno, however, accused Noroña of being the aggressor, writing on X that “he was the one who started the attack; he did it because he couldn’t silence us with arguments.”
Both lawmakers are themselves mired in separate controversies. Moreno faces possible impeachment for alleged corruption during his tenure as governor of Campeche state from 2015 to 2019, while Noroña has come under fire over reports that he owns an expensive residence despite President Claudia Sheinbaum’s calls for public officials to embrace modest living.
The confrontation comes amid renewed tensions with Washington, after U.S. media reported that President Donald Trump had instructed the Pentagon to prepare military operations against Latin American drug cartels designated as terrorist groups. Mexico, however, has reiterated that it “would not accept the participation of U.S. military forces on our territory.”
Source: AFP
