LA PAZ, Boliva (AP) — Last year, then-presidential candidate Javier Milei declared Argentina would not “make deals with communists” in China or Brazil, calling their leaders “murderers” and “thieves” in a bid to channel the populist energies of Donald Trump and other global far-right icons into a winning political message.

China's President Xi Jinping met with Argentine President Javier Milei on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, Chinese state television CCTV reported. It was the first meeting between the two leaders,

President Javier Milei met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, in what was their first face-to-face meeting. Milei, 53, published a photograph of the encounter on his social media accounts showing the two leaders shaking heads.

China's President Xi Jinping met with Argentine President Javier Milei on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, Chinese state television CCTV reported. It was the first meeting between the two leaders.

President Javier Milei is preparing for his first sit-down with Xi Jinping, despite once scoffing that he’d never cut deals with communists.