Mexico’s Senate descended into chaos on Wednesday after a heated debate over allegations that opposition parties had called for U.S. military intervention against drug cartels.
A video shared on the Senate’s official social media page shows opposition lawmaker Alejandro Moreno, leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), physically confronting Senate President Gerardo Fernández Noroña of the ruling Morena party. The footage captures Moreno shoving Fernández Noroña multiple times, slapping him on the neck, and knocking another senator to the ground when he tried to intervene.
The confrontation followed accusations that the opposition PRI and PAN parties had supported calls for U.S. military involvement in Mexico. After the incident, Fernández Noroña announced he would file a complaint against Moreno for bodily harm and seek the revocation 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 said.
Moreno, however, accused Fernández Noroña of initiating the altercation, writing on X: “He was the one who started the attack; he did it because he couldn’t silence us with arguments.”
The clash comes as both senators face separate controversies. Moreno is battling possible impeachment over alleged corruption during his tenure as governor of Campeche, while Fernández Noroña has been criticized for reportedly owning a luxury home despite President Claudia Sheinbaum’s call for public officials to live modestly.
The debate also follows recent U.S. media reports that former President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to consider military action against Latin American drug cartels a move Mexico firmly rejected, stressing it would not allow U.S. forces on its soil.
