Mexican senators clashed on Wednesday after opposition leader Alejandro Moreno of the PRI physically confronted Senate president Gerardo Fernández Noroña of the ruling Morena party during a heated debate over alleged calls for U.S. military intervention against drug cartels, amid rising tensions fueled by Washington’s push to treat cartels as terrorist groups.
The confrontation began when Moreno went to the podium at the close of the session and accused Noroña of not giving him the floor. A video posted on the Senate’s social media account shows Moreno pushing Noroña several times, slapping him on the neck, and knocking another man to the ground when he attempted to intervene.
The fight followed accusations that the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and National Action Party (PAN) were accused of calling U.S. military intervention, a claim both parties denied.
Noroña said afterward he would file a complaint against Moreno for bodily harm and seek to have his legislative immunity lifted. Moreno responded on social media platform X, accusing Noroña of starting the altercation.
“The first physical aggression came from Noroña,” Moreno wrote. “He threw the first shove, and he did it out of cowardice.”
Both lawmakers face separate controversies. Moreno is under possible impeachment proceedings for alleged corruption during his 2015–2019 tenure as governor of Campeche, while Noroña has faced criticism over reports that he owns an expensive home despite President Claudia Sheinbaum’s call for officials to live modestly.
The Senate brawl came as U.S. officials, led by President Donald Trump, push for military action against Latin American cartels designated as terrorist organizations. In February, the Trump administration classified eight drug trafficking groups, including six in Mexico, under that category.
Mexico has rejected the proposal, with President Sheinbaum reiterating earlier this month that the country “would not accept the participation of U.S. military forces on our territory.”
Meanwhile, Venezuela deployed warships and drones on Tuesday to patrol its coastline after the United States sent three destroyers to the region to curb drug trafficking.
