This article was co-published by El Paso Herald Post & Fronterizo News.
On August 26, 2025, as the Mexican senate session was ending with the national anthem, fighting broke out between PRI Senator Alejandro “Alito” Moreno and MORENA Senate President José Gerardo Fernández Noroña. According to a video circulating on social media, Moreno grabbed Noroña demanding that he be allowed to speak.
In the Senate’s live stream, Moreno is heard repeatedly asking Noroña, “to let me speak,” to which Noroña responds, “don’t touch me.”
As Noroña tries to break away, the two men began grabbing and shoving each other. When one of Noroña’s aides intervened, Moreno knocked him to the floor.
After the fracas, Moreno explained on his social media account what had transpired. According to him, an agenda had been approved for the discussion of US troops in México. Before the item was to begin, MORENA “conveniently changed it to keep us quiet and keep the opposition from addressing the topic.” He added, “their obligation was to allow us to speak.”
Moreno added in his post that “the first physical aggression came from Noroña,” who pushed him first, adding that he did it “cowardly.”
Continuing in his X post, Moreno wrote that “when Noroña crossed the line, he knew exactly what he was doing,” adding that the MORENA party members are “tough guys when they have the power.” Moreno continued that he “will always respond head on with character and without fear to defend México.” He concluded in his social media post that “the PRI will not remain silent with their arms crossed,” but will “take to the streets to take México by the strength of its people” demanding that “this cynical and corrupt government [Sheinbaum administration] stop with their abuses.”
The public fight between the legislators culminated after Claudia Sheinbaum’s party, MORENA, accused the PRI and the PAN party membership of calling for US military intervention to help quell drug cartel violence in the country. The PRI and the PAN have both stated that they have not called for US military intervention.
The controversy over US troops on Mexican soil ignited in February when PAN Senator Lilly Téllez posted on her social media account that “México is in the hands of a clique of narcoleftists.” Téllez was referring to Sheinbaum and her party, MORENA. On August 24, Téllez went on Fox & Friends Weekend where she accused Sheinbaum and her party of colluding with the drug cartels. Téllez told Fox News that the “help from United States is absolutely welcome to help fight the cartels.” Responding to Téllez, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said that “it is not a minor issue for a senator going to a foreign media outlet calling for [foreign] intervention.”
Téllez’ comments followed news that Donald Trump had directed the Pentagon to target Latin American drug cartels with US military forces. On August 8, The New York Times reported that Trump had “secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military forces against certain cartels.” In April, Trump said that he had proposed the idea of using US military forces in México against the drug cartels. Trump confirmed that Sheinbaum had rejected his idea of deploying US troops in México.
Against calls for having her expelled from congress, Téllez said that she did not “ask” for intervention, but rather said that “help” was necessary.
Several Mexican blogs have erroneously reported that over 200,000 signatures have been submitted to Change.org demanding the removal of Téllez. English language Mexico Solidarity Media also erroneously reported the wrong number, citing Sin Embargo. The actual number of signatures collected is less than 2,000. Change.org hosts two petitions asking for Téllez’s removal. The petition started on July 23, 2025 asks for the removal of seven MC-PRIAN senators. The MC-PRIAN acronym is used to identify the alliance of opposition parties opposed to MORENA. They are made up of the political parties Movimiento Ciudadano, the PRI and the PAN. As of today, this petition has collected 1,584 signatures. The second petition, started shortly after the Fox News segment that started the latest controversy over Téllez’s comments calls for her removal from office for her comments. It has collected 270 signatures as of today.
Foreign intervention in México is a sensitive issue for Mexicans, especially involving US troops. Nonetheless US troops train Mexican military personnel in México and Mexican troops train in the US. The latest training was the deployment of Mexican Marines to Naval air Base Cecile Field in Florida in July.
Except for Téllez’s suggestion that the “Mexican people would be happy for help” from the US against the drug cartels, no other Mexican government official has officially asked for US military troops in the country. Téllez has denied that she asked for “intervention,” arguing that she asked for “help.”
Although Trump has acknowledged that he suggested that US troops be deployed to México to Sheinbaum, he also acknowledged that she rebuffed the US troop deployment in México.
Recent reports that a US naval taskforce is operating in the Caribbean has raised questions on whether the Trump administration is readying a deployment of US forces in Latin America against the drug cartels. Yesterday, the Department of Defense confirmed that US naval forces destroyed a “suspected cartel drub boat killing 11 people.”
The Venezuelan Tren de Agua gang has been declared a foreign terrorist organization by the US recently. Venezuelan officials have accused the Trump administration of “threatening” Venezuela with the naval task force deployment. However, there are no indications that US troops are operating on Mexican soil without the authority of the Sheinbaum administration.
The fracas between the Mexican senators is the latest example of rising tensions between Sheinbaum’s government and the opposition parties.
Spanish to English translations by the author.
Photo credit: Fernández Noroña via X.
