Watch | Mexico Senate turns boxing ring, Senators exchange punches and slaps to settle debate

Mexican senators came to blows on Wednesday after a heated debate over accusations that opposition parties had called for US military intervention against drug cartels.

Mexico’s senate erupted into violence on August 27th with punches, pushing and shouting after an opposition party leader grabbed the chamber’s president as the session was wrapping up.

Alejandro “Alito” Moreno, head of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), came… pic.twitter.com/QvH1QrZTtI

— CGTN Europe (@CGTNEurope) August 28, 2025

According to a video footage shared on X, Alejandro Moreno, leader of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), stormed the podium at the end of the session to confront Senate President Gerardo Fernández Noroña of the ruling Morena party.

Moreno, visibly angry over not being allowed to speak during the session, shoved Fernández Noroña multiple times, slapped him on the neck, and pushed another man to the ground as he tried to intervene, the video showed.

The altercation came after a charged debate in which opposition parties PRI and PAN were accused of advocating for US military involvement in Mexico’s fight against drug cartels, an allegation both parties strongly denied.

Meanwhile, Fernández Noroña said he would file a legal complaint against Moreno for bodily harm and to seek the removal 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,” CBS News quoted him as saying .

Moreno accused Norona of initiating the attack, saying on social media platform X: “He was the one who started the attack; he did it because he couldn’t silence us with arguments.”

“The first physical aggression came from Norona,” Moreno wrote on X. “He threw the first shove, and he did it out of cowardice.”

President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare military action against Latin American drug cartels designated as terrorist organisations, CBS News quoted a source as saying. However, the timeline for any such action remains unclear.

Mexico has firmly rejected the prospect, with President Claudia Sheinbaum declaring earlier this month, “There will be no invasion of Mexico” and stating the country “would not accept the participation of US military forces on our territory.”

In February, the Trump administration labeled eight drug trafficking groups as terrorist organisations—six based in Mexico, one in Venezuela, and one in El Salvador.

With inputs from agencies