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Mr Rivero, a Bolivian national, was near a bus stop on Seven Sisters Road when the teenagers got off a bus and surrounded him.

In his declaration, he said his client spoke to a Mexican and a Bolivian national who were in the group.

The book was clearly fiction — featuring characters such as an absurdly monastic Bolivian radio-novela writer who loses his marbles and begins to confuse his characters and his plots.

Two years later, he expelled both the DEA and the American ambassador, accusing them of spying and undermining Bolivian sovereignty.

Images published in Bolivian media showed a badly damaged coach with its bodywork ripped off and luggage scattered on the roadside.