The Chamber of Deputies session was suspended Tuesday afternoon after another episode of aggression by cartista (Colorado Party faction) deputy Yamil Esgaib against opposition member Raúl Benítez (Independent), who was speaking at the time. It was the second consecutive week that the Chamber failed to address any agenda items due to lack of quorum.
The confrontation began when Benítez criticized the ruling Colorado Party faction under President Santiago Peña and what he called the "criminal structure" and "rabid dogs" supporting cartismo. Esgaib started shouting and threatened to impose a 60-day suspension on his colleague. The session president, Raúl Latorre—also a cartista—tried to calm things down, pleading "please" for everyone to settle, but to no avail.
Deputy Johanna Ortega (Partido País Solidario), standing beside Benítez, reacted strongly: "Enough, enough with the threats, Mr. President. This can't go on. What kind of business is it for one guy to threaten to suspend a colleague? Enough, Yamil. My God, get yourself under control for once." Faced with Esgaib's insistence on interrupting the speaker, Ortega snapped: "Go away, Yamil, honestly, go take your pill" — telling Esgaib to calm down.
Benítez briefly regained the floor and said the "rabid dogs" are part of the "criminal package that has been put together in this country" since the cartista government, a veiled reference to Esgaib's connection to Bingo Guaraní, managed by the company YEM, which is involved in a legal dispute with Club Guaraní over unpaid rent for the property it occupies.
After further attacks from Esgaib, Latorre called for a ten-minute recess to "cool down the tone of the dialogue." When the session resumed, the quorum had already been lost—without the required 41 members present, the session was ended without any votes.
Outside the chamber, Esgaib doubled down. He said he wished Benítez would "rest" for two months without pay and that he himself would cover his salary "so he stops coming here to bother us." When asked if he had challenged Benítez to a fight, he confirmed: "As a man, I said: if he keeps insulting me, I want him to answer like a man and we'll settle it in the yard." He accused the opposition member of "stalling" the Chamber and said: "I can challenge him with one hand no problem. In 30 seconds I knock him out. I'm ready to fight if he keeps mistreating me and if there's no justice, because if there were real justice here, he should be warned and suspended."
The cartista deputy had already served a one-month suspension for assaulting female colleagues and journalists, but now appears even more cornered after the results of the party primaries and the lack of punishment from the Chamber president, his fellow party member.