Francisco, 18, cooks in his apartment inside the “Tower of David” skyscraper in Caracas February 9, 2014. It boasts a helicopter landing pad, glorious views of the Avila mountain range, and large balconies for weekend barbecues. Yet a 45-storey skyscraper in the center of Venezuela’s capital Caracas is no five-star hotel or swanky apartment block: it is a slum, probably the highest in the world. Dubbed the “Tower of David”, the building was intended to be a shining new financial center but was abandoned around 1994 after the death of its developer – banker and horse-breeder David Brillembourg – and the collapse of the financial sector. Squatters invaded the huge concrete skeleton in 2007, then-president Hugo Chavez’s socialist government turned a blind eye, and now about 3,000 people call the tower their home. Picture taken February 9, 2014. REUTERS/Jorge Silva (VENEZUELA – Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY POVERTY)
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