A Mexican Senate session descended into chaos on Wednesday when two senior politicians traded blows following a heated debate over the U.S.'s involvement in the fight against drug cartels.
Video captured the explosive moment when Alejandro "Alito" Moreno, head of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and Gerardo Fernández Noroña, the Senate president of the ruling Morena Party, violently shoved one another after lawmakers finished singing the national anthem to close the day’s session.
The clash erupted after a tense debate, during which the Morena Party and its allies reportedly accused PRI and the conservative National Action Party (PAN) lawmakers of calling for U.S. military intervention in Mexico, a claim the opposing parties reportedly denied.
The issue has grown especially contentious following reports that President Donald Trump authorized U.S. military force against Latin American drug cartels designated as terrorist groups.
TRUMP APPROVES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN CARTELS CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
Moreno, who said his party was denied the right to speak for closing remarks, was seen approaching Fernández Noroña, reportedly saying, "I’m asking you to let me speak," while clutching the Senate president by the arm.
"Don’t touch me!" Fernández Noroña reportedly yelled back, as the two politicians violently shoved each other as colleagues scrambled to intervene.
In the scuffle, Moreno also clashed with one of Fernández Noroña’s collaborators, cameraman Emiliano González, who was knocked to the floor. Another lawmaker was seen yanking the Senate president’s suit jacket and taking a swing at him as he tried to escape the mayhem.
SENATE SHAKEN: BIPARTISAN WORRY ERUPTS AFTER INCIDENT INVOLVING CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT
Fernández Noroña accused Moreno of threatening to kill him, according to local reports.
"He hit me and told me ‘I'm going to break your mother, I'm going to kill you,'" Fernández Noroña said in a press conference according to El Pais.
Moreno countered that the ruling party was silencing opposition voices and insisted Fernández Noroña had instigated the fight.
"Let it be clear: the first physical aggression came from Fernández Noroña," Moreno said in a post on X Wednesday. "There was an approved agenda. Minutes before reaching the corresponding point, Morena changed it to their convenience to silence us and prevent the opposition from speaking out. Their obligation was to give me the floor, and they didn't do it."
'SPECTACLE OF HIMSELF': SENATE REPUBLICANS BLAST ALEX PADILLA AFTER HIS FORCIBLE REMOVAL FROM DHS PRESSER
The Senate president said he plans on filing a criminal complaint against Moreno as well as three other PRI legislators involved, including Carlos Eduardo Gutierrez Mancilla, Alonso Erubiel Lorenzo and Ruben Moreira.
Fernández Noroña is also calling an emergency session Friday to propose expelling Moreno and the three other PRI lawmakers as a result of the scuffle, the New York Post reported.
Fernández Noroña and Alejandro Moreno did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
