My Experience and Interactions with the Monterrey Institute of Technology Program in China

My Experience and Interactions with the Monterrey Institute of Technology Program in China

By：Jossalberto Briceno Saenz

The following account reflects my personal experiences while studying and working at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. It is based on my firsthand observations, events that I personally experienced, and information that was communicated directly to me by faculty members and university administrators during that period.

During my time at Fudan University, I was appointed by the university to serve as a translator during meetings between representatives of Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Institute of Technology) and Fudan University. At that time, Tecnológico de Monterrey was expanding its academic program in China by sending Mexican students to study Chinese language and participate in educational exchange activities.

In addition to my translation duties, Fudan University appointed me as Director of the Spanish-Speaking Student Association. I also served as a volunteer Spanish instructor, contributed as a columnist for the university newspaper, and represented the university at various academic and cultural activities involving Spanish-speaking students and visiting delegations.

Beginning in approximately 2009, I experienced what I perceived to be a sustained pattern of harassment, intimidation, and pressure from individuals associated with Tecnológico de Monterrey, including members of its administrative staff and students participating in its China program.

I personally received repeated telephone calls from individuals who identified themselves as being associated with Tecnológico de Monterrey. During these calls, I was repeatedly urged to resign from my university positions, withdraw from my activities at Fudan University, and leave China voluntarily. Some callers also stated that I should stop participating in university affairs and that I should no longer represent Mexican students or work with Fudan University.

I also received telephone calls from individuals who identified themselves as being connected to the Mexican government or to influential political figures in Mexico. Those callers questioned my activities in China, requested that I report to the Mexican Embassy or Consulate to identify myself, and expressed concern about my academic and professional work. Based on these repeated contacts, I believed that my activities were being monitored.

In addition to the telephone calls, I experienced repeated intimidation from certain students affiliated with the Tecnológico de Monterrey program. I received threatening telephone calls, was verbally harassed, and on several occasions I was physically assaulted on the Fudan University campus by individuals whom I identified as students participating in that program. During these incidents, I recall being told words to the effect that "Death is waiting for you in Mexico," and that I would face serious consequences if I returned there. Those statements caused me genuine fear for my personal safety.

Several members of the Fudan University administration later informed me that representatives of Tecnológico de Monterrey had requested that I be removed from my university positions and activities. Because I had been a long-time student at Fudan University, some faculty members spoke openly with me about these concerns. One professor personally showed me emails that she stated had been sent by representatives of Tecnológico de Monterrey requesting that my participation at the university be terminated.

Although I cannot independently verify the motives behind those communications, I was informed that requests had been made to remove me from my teaching responsibilities, my leadership position within the Spanish-speaking student association, and other university activities. Over time, I was removed from the university newspaper, where I had served as a columnist, I was instructed to discontinue teaching Spanish, and another instructor associated with Tecnológico de Monterrey later assumed those teaching responsibilities.

The cumulative effect of these events had a profound impact on my academic career, my professional opportunities, and my personal well-being. I became increasingly fearful for my safety and deliberately avoided contact with individuals whom I believed were involved in the harassment. My participation in university life steadily diminished until I had effectively lost the positions and opportunities that I had previously earned.

Based on my personal experiences, the repeated threats, the pressure to leave China, the communications I received from individuals identifying themselves as connected to Tecnológico de Monterrey and the Mexican government, the information provided to me by Fudan University personnel, and the actions taken against me, I came to believe that there was a coordinated effort to exclude me from academic life in China and silence my professional activities.

This statement reflects my personal recollection of the events as I experienced them. Where I describe information provided by others, I have identified it as such. My purpose is to accurately document my experiences and explain why those events continue to affect me today.

The consequences of these experiences did not end when I left China. They continue to shape my fear of returning to Mexico. If I experienced years of intimidation, harassment, threats, and pressure while living thousands of miles away in another country, I genuinely fear what could happen if I were forced to return to Mexico.

That fear has only intensified because I was repeatedly told that "Death is waiting for you in Mexico," and later, "I WILL BE KILLED IN MEXICO." Those statements were not isolated remarks. They became part of a continuing pattern of intimidation that has remained with me for many years.

I cannot predict the future, but the experiences I lived through have left me with a genuine and well-founded fear for my safety. The question that continues to remain in my mind is whether those warnings were merely attempts to intimidate me—or whether they reflected a real danger that still awaits me if I return to Mexico.

 When Education in Mexico Becomes a Tool of Political Control

Freedom of expression in Mexico has long been under political pressure, to the point where it is now effectively constrained. One early example dates back to 1973, when the television program of Manuel “El Loco” Valdés was censored amid reports of possible fines or detention. Although his grandson later described the incident as a severe governmental warning, it revealed a pattern that has since evolved into far subtler—and more dangerous—forms of control.

Today, censorship in Mexico is no longer always visible. Its boundaries are blurred, often taking the form of administrative pressure, ideological enforcement, or implicit threats. Education has become one of the most affected arenas. Government influence has expanded deeply into the educational system, accompanied by what critics describe as narco-related pressure that erodes academic autonomy and suppresses freedom of expression among teachers and students alike. Journalists and independent communicators operating outside academic institutions face similar restrictions (1)(2).

The term narco-political describes a system in which those in power are constrained by the interests of drug trafficking networks. Politicians may not be drug traffickers themselves, but they operate with the understanding that confronting organized crime is off-limits. Anyone within their circle can function as the eyes and ears of the narco. The result is an unspoken alliance between political authority and criminal power. Bolivia and Venezuela are often cited as comparable cases.

Within education, this dynamic manifests as a political-educational and narco-educational structure, where institutions are shaped by political directives rather than academic principles. If the state itself operates under narco influence, that ideology inevitably reaches classrooms and campuses. Educational institutions can become channels for laundering money, facilitating international criminal routes, or sheltering student populations tied to narco families.

This convergence leads to what is described as narco-communism: a system in which education is steered toward an ideological model that tolerates or favors criminal activity under the banner of political control. If allowed to continue, Mexico risks following the path of Venezuela and potentially Colombia. Political offices may eventually be occupied not by compliant administrators but by narcos openly posing as politicians. Figures such as Evo Morales and Nicolás Maduro are frequently cited in this context (3).

Even before Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly attacked university autonomy—branding institutions as neoliberal and imposing drastic budget cuts on research bodies like CIDE and CONACYT—Mexico’s educational system was already burdened by accusations of corruption linked to narco-political networks (4).

Concerns have also been raised over school textbooks containing ideological content viewed as communist indoctrination, as well as the creation of government-aligned Benito Juárez Universities, where admissions processes reportedly lack academic rigor. These conditions increase the risk of institutional capture.

Outside academia, ordinary citizens face growing consequences. SEDENA has reportedly singled out social media users critical of the government, including independent reporters operating on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (1).

The drift toward a narco-communist future is not hypothetical. Mexico displays many of the warning signs: restrictions on free expression, expanding state control, and ideological alignment with authoritarian regimes. Government actions often signal sympathy toward communist governments. Former Bolivian president Evo Morales’ lecture at UNAM in November 2019, shortly after his arrival in Mexico as an exile, and public statements by Claudia Sheinbaum expressing solidarity with Cuba and opposition to U.S. policy on Venezuela, illustrate this trend (5).

References

1. Freedom on the Net 2024 Country Report – Mexico. Mexico continues to be one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists and online reporters face legal threats, harassment, and surveillance abuses. The Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) has used cyber monitoring against social media critics. https://freedomhouse.org/country/mexico/freedom-net/2024?utm_source=chatgpt.com

2. Mexico: Online Free Speech at Risk – Human Rights Watch warns that proposed regulation of social media and state influence threatens free expression.  https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/14/mexico-online-free-speech-risk?utm_source=chatgpt.com

3. Events in Bolivia’s and Venezuela’s political context: multiple sources document international solidarity stances and political alignments in Latin America. https://unamglobal.unam.mx/2019/01/23/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

4. Will a new president end Mexico’s stand-off over university policy? – Research center CIDE faced funding cuts and restrictions on academic freedom under the López Obrador administration. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/will-new-president-end-mexicos-stand-over-university-policy?utm_source=chatgpt.com

5. Reuters (2025) – Controversial telecommunications bill interpreted as a potential censorship tool; President Sheinbaum considered revising it after critics said it could limit free speech.
   https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-president-open-modifying-telecoms-bill-after-censorship-accusations-2025-04-25/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

The Mutant Sheinbaum and the Reporter of a Thousand Questions: Collective Honesty and the New Communism Where All Mexicans Are Honest… According to Claudia

 The Mutant Sheinbaum and the Reporter of a Thousand Questions: Collective Honesty and the New Communism Where All Mexicans Are Honest… According to Claudia

By Dr. Jossalberto Briceno Saenz

In recent days, two comments have reminded me of the way communists speak: The first comes from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum: “Mexicans who live in the United States are hardworking, honest men and women.” The second comment comes from a reporter at the September 3rd press conference with Secretary Marco Rubio. After Secretary of State Marco Rubio pointed out that he hadn’t asked a single question, but rather a bundle of questions, the reporter—so as not to lose face—excused himself by replying: “It’s something we also do in Mexico, ask multiple questions.”

First of all, Claudia Sheinbaum does not know each and every Mexican in the world. Unless she were the first Mexican mutant with powers of mind reading and telepathy, or the reincarnation of a goddess—Greek, Aztec, or otherwise, which I highly doubt—she cannot speak for all Mexicans. Likewise, at that disastrous press conference, that Mexican reporter who, in his selfishness, could not manage to ask a single question but instead had to throw into the air an endless list of questions that could just as easily have been asked by the other reporters present… that reporter does not represent Mexico either. Yet with zero honesty, he dared to stain the reputation of all Mexican reporters by saying that his flaw was not his own, but a supposed national custom.

Returning to the word “honesty,” which falls from the lips of Claudia Sheinbaum. I believe that reporter has slipped past Sheinbaum’s mental grasp because he wears Magneto’s “Anti-Psychic Helmet” every day, a helmet manufactured by the Soviet Union—or possibly MADE IN CHINA—designed to block the brainwaves of telepath Sheinbaum and protect him from her immense power. Something I sincerely, and immensely, doubt. That word honesty is something I do not see in that Mexican reporter, and frankly, I do not see it applied in many Mexicans. Please, just look at the crime statistics. I hope Claudia Sheinbaum does not contradict me by saying that all the honest Mexicans are in the United States and that the scum of the scum are all in Mexico.

I see Claudia Sheinbaum with communist tendencies. In her, I do not see patriotism but nationalism. A nationalism that has always existed in Mexico and that translates into xenophobia—a xenophobia that kills people for sharing their views if those views do not align with the political tastes of the regime. That is to say, nationalism in Mexico is applied from Mexicans toward Mexicans, not merely from Mexicans toward foreigners.

In Mexico, I do not see admiration or recognition from the population toward other Mexicans, except in cases where those Mexicans are first recognized abroad. Film directors Iñárritu, Cuarón, and Del Toro are an example. Only Mexicans who have achieved success abroad are admired, and therefore they do not feel the exclusion and contempt imposed by other Mexican individuals (the Crab Mentality).

An analysis of Claudia Sheinbaum’s résumé qualifies her as an environmentalist, but a deeper look at her past projects reveals a direction toward disguised communism, since they condition Mexico to a collectivist culture of common transportation rather than individual. Among the projects she has promoted are her promises that the government would allocate resources to public transport: infrastructure projects with an environmental axis to reduce emissions causing climate change, such as the Cablebús system, the Elevated Trolleybus, the purchase of electric buses for the Metrobús, and the renovation of the Passenger Transport Network with low-emission units.

Speaking of security, I do not see a radical change in national education, since, honestly, ethics and civics are in the gutter in Mexico. Are we really talking about all Mexicans being honest and well-behaved? Well then, explain to me why, since taking office, Sheinbaum announced a “significant transformation” in the public security of Mexico City with new divisions focused on civil protection, the creation of the SOS *765 hotline, and the construction of 710 kilometers of “safe pathways” under the slogan “Walk Free, Walk Safe,” designed to guarantee the safety of women in their daily movements through the city. If all Mexicans were honest, none of that would be needed.

I believe that in Mexico everything should begin by explaining to the entire population the meaning of the word honesty within civics and ethics classes, imparted nationally, in a MANDATORY way, for all and to all. Classes in which Claudia Sheinbaum herself should sit in the very first row, so that perhaps at her next press conference she finally understands what honesty and communism mean.