On August 27th, a brawl broke out in the Mexican Senate, following a discussion on the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Mexico against drug cartels.
You can watch a video of the action right here.
From CNN: “A meeting of the Mexican Senate descended into violence Wednesday [August 27th], after one of its members apparently became enraged at not getting a chance to speak. The scuffle broke out between two high-ranking senators toward the end of a session that had included a heated debate on the possibility of US military intervention in the country.”
Such an intervention hasn’t occurred yet, but just talking about it has provoked this.
“As the national anthem was playing, the aggrieved senator, Alejandro Moreno – president of the opposition party PRI – stepped up to the podium and grabbed the arm of Senate President Gerardo Fernández Noroña, of the ruling Morena party, and a shoving match ensued. Others nearby then stepped in. A live broadcast of the exchange shows one man in a suit appearing to take a swing at Noroña, while Moreno pushes a different man in a green shirt to the ground.”
Watch the video if you haven’t already.
“Noroña later identified the man in the green shirt as a member of his team. The man appeared alongside Noroña at a press conference, wearing a neck brace and bandages around his arm.”
So what did Moreno say about it?
“Moreno said on social media that he had confronted Noroña because the ruling party had changed the agenda of the session to prevent the opposition from speaking out. “That cowardice provoked what followed. Let it be clear: the first physical aggression came from Noroña,” he said, claiming the Senate president started the altercation by shoving him.”
Fernandez Norona’s explanation: For his part, Noroña insisted the opposition senators were to blame. ‘They ganged up on me. They will say that this is freedom of expression,’ he said. He said that during the session they had debated topics including US military intervention, which he had accused opposition parties of supporting.”
In a speech delivered on the 29th, Fernandez Norona continued to assert this, claiming that the PRI and PAN parties have requested U.S. intervention and thus they are traitors.
Of course, no Mexican political faction publicly supports unilateral U.S. intervention.
Such an intervention in Mexico hasn’t occurred, and may not occur, but it’s already a live topic in the Mexican Congress.
But if Trump really decides to intervene, they wouldn’t be able to stop him.
This is not the first brawl in the Mexican Congress.
One example was in 2006, when a big brawl accompanied the inauguration of Felipe Calderon as President. Arnold Schwarzenegger, then governor of California, attended the inauguration and called it “good action”. Click here for an article I wrote about that incident way back in 2006. (Was it really that long ago?)