Imo he's just the average right wing latin american dictator, they see things like Hitler, Pinochet and Mussolini and while any normal person are extremely put off by such disgusting values, they actually find it cool because muh strongman.They don't say he's crazy for no reason and crazy means crazy. It doesn't mean he's got crazy hate for China; it means he's actually crazy and you can't predict or explain how crazy people act by logical analysis of thier history. "Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior," only works for sane people unless you count all of craziness together as a single behavior.
Its extremely easy for them to take a liking to China because they are inevitably always fully believing US media, which baselessly claims things such as genocides and dictatorships in China. Those claims are meant to make people hate China, but to latin american despots, those claimed acts are actually achievements and medals.