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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
Perhaps no other skyscraper is as infamous as Venezuela’s ‘Tower of David’, a 45-storey unfinished building that has housed approximately 5,000 squatters since 2007.
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.
But after some Chinese investors acquired the property, soldiers and officials began moving hundreds of families on Tuesday out of the building. The mass eviction proceeded peacefully.
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
The building boasts of a helicopter landing pad, glorious views of the Avila mountain range, and large balconies for weekend barbecues.
When squatters invaded the huge concrete skeleton in 2007, then-president Hugo Chavez's socialist government turned a blind eye.
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
More than 5,000 dwellers moved in to what came to be known as the tallest slum in the world.
Teenagers chat on the 10th floor of the ‘Tower of David’ skyscraper in Caracas in this photograph taken on February 3, 2014.
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
A view of the lobby from the top of the 'Tower of David' in Caracas
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
Paola Medina, 29, packs as she prepares to leave her apartment after living in the 'Tower of David' skyscraper for almost a year in Caracas in this photograph taken on March 25, 2014.
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
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 ‘Tower of David’ ahead of the eviction.
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
An evicted resident from the Tower of David walks out of the building to a bus which will transport them to their new houses in Caracas.
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
Evicted residents of Tower of David wait for a bus to transport them to their new homes in Caracas
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
Evicted residents of Tower of David wait for a bus to transport them to their new house in Caracas.
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PHOTOS: Thousands evicted from world's TALLEST slum in Venezuela
An evicted resident of Tower of David sits in a bus, as the building is reflected on the window, which will transport them to the new home in Caracas.