This article may contain commentary
which reflects the author’s opinion.
A video showing a physical altercation among women legislators during a debate in Mexico City’s Congress has gone viral on social media, reports said on Monday. The confrontation occurred during a legislative session discussing a proposal to dissolve the city’s transparency oversight agency and replace it with a new body.
Footage from the chamber shows lawmakers shoving, shouting, slapping, and pulling one another’s hair near the main podium. The incident involved as many as five legislators from opposing parties.
The clash began when female lawmakers from the opposition National Action Party (PAN) approached the podium to protest what they said was a procedural violation by the ruling leftist Morena party.
The situation escalated when Morena legislators attempted to remove the PAN representatives forcibly from the podium, leading to a brief physical confrontation on the chamber floor, the Economic Times of India reported.
“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, at 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,” PAN lawmaker Daniela Alvarez added.
WATCH:
After the altercation, PAN lawmakers exited the chamber, allowing the Morena majority to continue the debate without any opposition present, according to the Congress’s social media updates.
“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 said to broadcaster Milenio.
The incident revealed growing tensions between the ruling leftist party and the opposition in Mexico City’s legislature regarding government transparency reforms.
A federal indictment unsealed in September, meanwhile, charged former Tamaulipas governor Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba, 56, and Mexican construction firm owner Fernando Alejandro Cano Martinez, 57, with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
The two 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 August 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 case is the result of a multi-agency probe involving ICE Homeland Security Investigations, the DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the Texas Attorney General’s Office, the release said.
Yarrington Ruvalcaba, 56, and Mexican construction firm owner Fernando Alejandro Cano Martinez, 57, have been indicted on RICO charges, along with 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 the filing, Yarrington began taking large bribes from major traffickers, including the Gulf Cartel, in the late 1990s. In exchange, he allegedly allowed their multi-ton drug operations to flourish, including cocaine smuggling into the U.S. through the Port of Veracruz from 2007 to 2009, said ICE.
The indictment also alleges Yarrington accepted bribes from commercial businesses. Cano Martinez, whose company Materiales y Construcciones Villa de Aguayo secured major public works contracts under Yarrington’s governorship, is accused of funneling kickbacks to him, including real estate purchased under front names, the agency’s release added.
Yarrington additionally faces charges of 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 governed Tamaulipas, the Mexican border state across from Brownsville and Laredo, from 1999 to 2004, the ICE release noted further.
