Men salvage metal on the 30th floor of the “Tower of David” skyscraper in Caracas February 3, 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 3, 2014. REUTERS/Jorge Silva (VENEZUELA – Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY POVERTY)
ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 20 OF 35 FOR PACKAGE ‘VENEZUELA’S SKYSCRAPER SLUM’
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH ‘TOWER OF DAVID’