Mexico City: According to CNN, a disagreement over speaking time at a session of the Mexican Senate resulted in a physical altercation between prominent members, causing the meeting to become disorderly.
The argument took place towards the conclusion of the meeting, which had featured a heated discussion about the possibility of US military intervention in Mexico.
Alejandro Moreno, the head of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), rushed towards the podium and seized the arm of the Senate as the national anthem was performed. The ruling Morena party's president, Gerardo Fernandez Norona. CNN stated that the two men immediately engaged in a pushing match.
According to CNN, the video of the incident shows Moreno knocking a man in a green shirt to the ground and a different man in a suit striking Norona. The individual in green was eventually recognized by Norona as one of his employees, who afterwards showed up at a press conference sporting an arm bandage and neck brace.
In a social media statement, Moreno defended his conduct, claiming that the governing party had changed the session's agenda in order to silence the opposition. What followed was the result of that cowardice. In his letter, Norona claimed that the Senate president started the argument and made it plain that he was the one who first used physical violence.
Moreno's account of the events was refuted by Norona, who maintained that opposition senators had assaulted him. They attacked me as a group. They will claim this is freedom of speech, he said. In addition, he stated that he would seek legal action against Moreno, whom he claimed had threatened to murder him, by filing a formal complaint. the removal of Moreno and other people involved in the opposition.
Norona asserted that the opposition supported a plan for the deployment of American military troops in Mexico, which was discussed during the meeting.
Although rare, there have been cases of violence in the Mexican parliament. Following a contested election, CNN reports that legislators engaged in a full-scale fight in 2006, shortly prior to the inauguration of then-President Felipe Calderon.
