MEXICO CITY — Senators in Mexico came to blows on Wednesday after a heated debate over alleged opposition calls for the United States to intervene militarily against drug cartels.

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Lawmaker Alejandro Moreno, leader of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), went to the podium as Wednesday’s session ended and angrily confronted Senate President Gerardo Fernandez Norona, of the ruling National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party, for not being given the floor.

Moreno can be seen in a video posted on social media by the Mexican Senate pushing Fernandez Norona several times, slapping him on the neck and pushing another man to the ground when he tried to intervene

The brawl followed a heated debate during which the PRI and opposition National Action Party were accused of calling for US military intervention, which both parties deny.

Fernandez Norona said later he would file a complaint against Moreno for bodily harm and request that his legislative immunity be revoked.

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

Mexican senators come to blows after heated debate

Both senators are involved in separate controversies.

Moreno faces possible impeachment proceedings for alleged corruption during his tenure as governor of southeastern Campeche state from 2015 to 2019.

Fernandez Norona has been criticized over reports that he owns an expensive house at a time when Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has urged public officials to live modestly.

US media reported this month that President Donald Trump had directed the Pentagon to use military force against Latin American drug cartels deemed terrorist organizations.

For its part, Mexico stressed it “would not accept the participation of US military forces on our territory.”