\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24101713520161-e1712824172110.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
President\u00a0Javier Milei<\/a>\u00a0of Argentina<\/a> kicked off a visit Wednesday to the United States, where he\u2019ll meet with tech billionaire\u00a0Elon Musk<\/a>, as his government seeks an infusion of cash to overhaul Argentina\u2019s embattled economy.<\/p>\n The populist president started his four-day trip in Miami, home to Argentine soccer superstar\u00a0Lionel Messi<\/a>\u00a0and among the largest populations of Argentines in the U.S., where the Chabad-Lubavitch sect of Hasidic Judaism will honor him at a local synagogue. Milei will meet with Musk on Friday in Texas, his spokesperson said, where he will also tour a factory for\u00a0Tesla, Musk\u2019s electric car company<\/a>.<\/p>\n Milei\u2019s\u00a0third trip to the U.S.<\/a>\u00a0in merely four months as president comes as he reshapes Argentine foreign policy in line with Washington. Standing beside Gen. Laura Richardson, head of the U.S. Southern Command, at the southernmost tip of South America last week, Milei vowed to boost the nations\u2019 \u201cstrategic alliance\u201d \u2014 underscoring how he sees U.S. support as vital to the\u00a0economic overhaul on which he has staked his presidency<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe took advantage to present a new foreign doctrine for Argentina,\u201d Milei wrote Wednesday on social media platform X<\/a> of his meeting with Richardson. In the same post, apparently directed at Musk \u2014 a self-declared free speech absolutist \u2014 Milei said he promoted \u201ctrue freedom of expression\u201d and slammed journalists critical of his administration as trying to \u201cstop us from speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not going to remain silent in the face of slander, insult or defamation,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Milei\u2019s plan to slash spending has inflicted encountered resistance in a nation where annual inflation tops 276%<\/a>. On Wednesday,\u00a0police forcibly dispersed anti-government<\/a>\u00a0protestors blocking a main Buenos Aires artery.<\/p>\n The United States, the biggest investor in Argentina, also has the most influence over the International Monetary Fund, to which Argentina owes $42 billion<\/a>. The IMF has endorsed Milei\u2019s shock therapy for Argentina, agreeing to disburse $4.7 billion from a bailout package the country took out six years ago.<\/p>\n The State Department\u2019s investment climate statement last year noted \u201ccapital controls, trade restrictions, and price controls\u201d as factors hampering investors in Argentina. Milei has vowed to roll back those interventionist policies with market-oriented changes favored by business executives, like Musk, one of the world\u2019s richest men who leads rocket company SpaceX<\/a>, car company Tesla<\/a> and took over Twitter in 2022.<\/p>\n Milei and Musk \u2014 who share a brash personality-driven style and distaste for government overreach \u2014 have expressed mutual admiration. Ahead of his inauguration last December, Milei praised Musk as an \u201cicon of freedom.\u201d Musk gushed over Milei\u2019s speech lambasting socialism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, commenting \u201cSo hot\u201d with a meme of a couple having sex while watching Milei speak.<\/p>\n That\u2019s in sharp contrast to Musk\u2019s clash with Brazilian authorities, who\u00a0threatened to regulate social media sites<\/a>\u00a0and accused Musk of obstruction this week.<\/p>\n\n