Mexican Lawmakers Trade Blows During Chaotic Legislative Session

A heated debate inside Mexico City’s Congress devolved into outright disorder after a physical confrontation erupted among female lawmakers, underscoring growing political instability within the country’s left-wing governance structure.

Video footage circulating widely on social media shows legislators shoving, shouting, slapping, and pulling each other’s hair near the chamber’s main podium as lawmakers debated a proposal to dissolve the city’s transparency oversight agency and replace it with a newly created body. Reports indicate that as many as five lawmakers from rival parties were involved in the scuffle.

The clash began when members of the opposition National Action Party (PAN) moved toward the podium to protest what they described as a procedural violation carried out by the ruling leftist Morena party. What started as a formal objection quickly escalated.

According to the Economic Times of India, the situation turned physical when Morena lawmakers attempted to forcibly remove PAN representatives from the podium, triggering a brief but intense confrontation on the chamber floor.

“We took the podium peacefully, without touching anyone, and the decision made by the majority legislative group and its allies was to try and regain control of the board through violence,” said Andres Atayde, a PAN aide, during a press conference following the incident.

“Not only is it vulgar, not only is it aggressive, but it is lamentable that this is the majority governing party for this city,” added PAN lawmaker Daniela Alvarez.

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Following the altercation, PAN lawmakers walked out of the session, effectively clearing the way for Morena’s majority to proceed with the debate in the absence of opposition, according to updates posted on the Congress’s official social media accounts.

Morena officials, however, attempted to shift blame onto the opposition.
“What worries us a lot is how the opposition is systematically resorting to violence instead of arguments, in the absence of being able to debate,” Morena spokesman Paulo Garcia later told broadcaster Milenio.

The episode highlights escalating tensions between Mexico City’s ruling leftist party and opposition lawmakers, particularly over proposed transparency reforms that critics argue would weaken accountability mechanisms and consolidate political power.

Separately, ongoing corruption concerns surrounding Mexico’s political class were reinforced by developments in a major U.S. criminal case. A federal indictment unsealed in September charged former Tamaulipas Governor Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba, 56, and Mexican construction executive Fernando Alejandro Cano Martinez, 57, with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Both men are also accused of conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to defraud, and conspiracy to make false statements to federally insured U.S. banks. A federal grand jury in Brownsville returned the indictment in May, and it was unsealed Dec. 2, according to an earlier press release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The charges were announced by U.S. Attorneys Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas and Robert L. Pitman of the Western District of Texas. The investigation involved multiple agencies, including ICE Homeland Security Investigations, the DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

According to court filings, Yarrington allegedly began accepting large bribes from major drug trafficking organizations, including the Gulf Cartel, as early as the late 1990s. In exchange, he is accused of allowing multi-ton drug operations to operate freely, including cocaine shipments into the United States through the Port of Veracruz between 2007 and 2009.

Prosecutors also allege that Yarrington accepted bribes from commercial entities. Cano Martinez, whose firm Materiales y Construcciones Villa de Aguayo obtained significant public works contracts during Yarrington’s tenure, is accused of funneling kickbacks to the former governor, including real estate purchases made through front individuals.

Yarrington faces additional charges, including conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act, conspiracy to structure financial transactions, and two counts of bank fraud. Cano Martinez faces separate bank fraud charges.

Yarrington served as governor of Tamaulipas—the Mexican border state adjacent to Brownsville and Laredo—from 1999 to 2004, according to ICE.