The skyline of Caracas is dotted with modern buildings pushing upward, but some of these buildings have come to symbolize not the successes of Venezuela, but rather its worst failings. As journalist Peter Wilson writes for FP, the "vertical slums" across the city have become symbols "of the depths to which Venezuela has sunk under President Hugo Chávez."
Above is a skyscraper, officially called Edificio Confinanzas but better known as "David's Tower," named after the businessman David Brillembourg. Intended to be the third-highest building in Venezuela, construction on the building stalled after Brillembourg died in 1993 and his business -- a financial consortium called Confinanzas -- failed.
It sat unoccupied, a towering eyesore on the skyline, until 2007, when families began organizing to take over the building. Today, about 2,500 squatters live in the deserted building.
Photo: Ángela Bonadies & Juan José Olavarría
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