As if it were a one-on-one wrestling match, lawmakers Dany Álvarez and Elizabeth Mateos attacked each other in their bid to take and control the floor of the Mexico City Congress, while the opinion to dissolve InfoCDMX was being debated.
PAN lawmakers took over the floor in protest, arguing that Morena failed to honor agreements to protect the transparency arrangements in Mexico City.
One of those who went up to seize the floor and stood next to the president of the local Congress’ Board of Directors, PVEM lawmaker Jesús Sesma, was Dany Álvarez, who did not move despite the shouts and complaints from Morena lawmaker Elizabeth Mateos. At first, another lawmaker stood between them. But when there was nothing left separating them, hostile stares turned into physical aggression.
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In the Congress video, Mateos can be seen trying to move Álvarez, grabbing her by the arm and poking her in the ribs. The PAN lawmaker reacted by throwing an elbow, and the Morena lawmaker hit her with her forearm and then with an open-handed slap.
While the PAN lawmaker was alone, Mateos was joined by two other Morena lawmakers, one of whom nearly grabbed Álvarez by the neck.
Álvarez struggled to hold her ground next to Sesma, while Mateos persisted in trying to grab her arm to pull her away. The PAN lawmaker broke free, shouted at her, and elbowed her in the stomach. Mateos reacted by slapping Álvarez on the head, who was then defended by another lawmaker who pulled the Morena lawmaker’s hair.
Mateos reacted by pulling her attacker’s hair, and when the PAN lawmaker saw her defender being attacked, she too grabbed the hair of her Morena colleague. The hair-pulling went both ways, as Mateos also grabbed their hair.
Sesma stood up and tried to separate them. After several tense seconds, they were finally pulled apart and the president of the Board of Directors called a recess.
But the turmoil was not limited to the floor. Among the 66 seats, there were also shouts and accusations between Morena lawmakers and the opposition.
Morena accused PAN lawmakers of violently storming the floor in what it described as an attempt to defend party quotas at the Institute of Transparency, Access to Public Information, Protection of Personal Data, and Accountability.
The session was expected to be moved to another venue, but lawmakers ultimately announced that it would be held at the same location.
The deadline to approve the 2026 expenditure budget expires on December 15.
The dissolution of InfoCDMX
Context: The dissolution of the Institute of Transparency, Access to Information, Protection of Personal Data, and Accountability of Mexico City (InfoCDMX) is imminent, although it is still unclear what exactly it will become. What concerns the institute’s presiding commissioner, Laura Enríquez, and her fellow commissioners María del Carmen Nava Polina and Julio César Bonilla is the possibility of a setback to the right of access to information. They are also worried that the changes the Mexico City Congress plans to make next September to the Constitution on transparency matters could affect the labor rights of the institute’s roughly 200 employees.
Last August, the commissioners took it as a given that the autonomy of the current transparency watchdog in the capital will no longer be part of the new body, despite evidence that it functions better that way, said presiding commissioner Laura Enríquez.
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