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

The following account reflects my personal experience while studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. It is based on my recollection of events, my direct observations, and information that was communicated to me by individuals involved at the time.

During my time as a student at Fudan University, I was asked by the university to serve as a translator during meetings involving representatives of the Monterrey Institute of Technology (Tecnológico de Monterrey) and Fudan University. At that time, the Monterrey Institute's China program was still developing and involved bringing Mexican students to China for language study and academic activities.

My understanding was that participating students received Chinese language instruction while also taking courses taught by faculty associated with the Monterrey Institute. Compared with other international programs operating at the university, the program was still in an early stage of development.

While studying at Fudan, I was also given responsibilities within the Spanish-speaking student community. I served as Director of the Spanish-Speaking Student Association and volunteered as a Spanish-language instructor. In addition, I participated as a translator in meetings involving university personnel and visiting representatives from Mexico.

Over time, I began receiving telephone calls from individuals associated with the Monterrey Institute program. During these conversations, I was encouraged to voluntarily withdraw from activities in which I was involved. On multiple occasions, I was also urged to leave China voluntarily.

In addition, I experienced conflicts with certain students affiliated with the program. I received threatening telephone calls, and there were incidents that I perceived as intimidation. On some occasions, I was involved in physical confrontations with students on university grounds. I recall hearing statements that I interpreted as threats, including comments suggesting that I would face danger if I returned to Mexico.

At the time, certain members of the Fudan University administration informed me that requests had been made regarding my participation in university activities. Because I had been involved with the university for an extended period, some faculty members spoke openly with me about concerns they had received from outside parties. One faculty member showed me emails that, according to her, had been sent by representatives connected to the Monterrey Institute program.

Although I cannot independently verify the motivations behind these communications, I was informed that efforts were being made to remove me from various university positions and activities, including my work as a Spanish instructor.

The situation had a significant impact on my life. I became increasingly concerned about my safety and avoided contact with certain individuals associated with the program. Over time, I lost several opportunities within the university community. I was removed from participation in the university newspaper, where I had contributed as a columnist, and I was asked to discontinue my Spanish-language teaching activities. Later, another instructor associated with the Monterrey Institute assumed teaching responsibilities in that area.

Looking back, I believe these events had a profound effect on my academic, professional, and personal life. While I cannot state with certainty the intentions of every individual involved, my perception was that sustained pressure was placed upon me that contributed to my exclusion from activities in which I had previously participated.

This account is offered as a record of my personal experience and perspective. Others involved may have different interpretations of the same events. My purpose is not to make factual findings regarding the motives of any institution or individual, but rather to document events as I experienced and understood them at the time.

The lasting impact of these events extends far beyond my time in China. One of the concerns that continues to affect me today is my fear of returning to Mexico. From my perspective, if I experienced intimidation, threats, and pressure while living in a foreign country thousands of miles away, it is difficult for me not to wonder what could happen if I were forced to return to my own country.

As a result, I continue to live with a question that has never been fully resolved in my mind: If such events occurred while I was in China, what might happen if I returned to Mexico? I cannot predict the future, nor can I know with certainty what would happen if I returned. However, the experiences I lived through have left me with a genuine fear and an unresolved concern about my personal safety. The question that continues to linger in my thoughts is simple but profound: Was the warning I received merely intimidation, or does real danger await me in 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.