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Thursday, April 3, 2014

The tallest slum in the world -The incomplete skyscraper, dubbed the Tower of David, stands 45 storeys tall in the city of Caracas, Venezuela

Standing 45 storeys tall, complete with helicopter landing pad and glorious views of the Avila mountain range, it was built with the intention of becoming a shining new financial centre in Venezuela's capital.


Since it was abandoned roughly 20 years ago, amid a massive run on the country's banking sector and the death of its developer, this incomplete skyscraper has been transformed into what has been described as the tallest slum in the world.


The building was seized by squatters in 2007, when then-President Hugo Chavez's socialist government turned a blind eye, and now about 3,000 people call it their home.

Residents acknowledge the tower had problems with crime but insist miscreants have been kicked out over the last 18 months, and that a new leadership is keeping the house in order

Families pay a 200 bolivar ($32) monthly 'condominium' fee, which helps fund 24-hour security patrols




Adriana Gutierrez and her son Carlos Adrian watch TV as they sit on their bed in their 24th floor apartment inside the skyscraper
Thais Ruiz(36) talks on the telephone and drinks coffee as she sits under a crack in the roof of her living room on the 27th floor of the skyscraper

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