{"id":25895,"date":"2023-09-19T10:11:41","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T10:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/berkshiredoulas.com\/?p=25895"},"modified":"2023-09-19T10:11:41","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T10:11:41","slug":"skyscraper-slum-run-by-ex-con-who-cut-up-rivals-and-threw-them-off-roof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/berkshiredoulas.com\/world-news\/skyscraper-slum-run-by-ex-con-who-cut-up-rivals-and-threw-them-off-roof\/","title":{"rendered":"Skyscraper slum run by ex-con who cut up rivals and threw them off roof"},"content":{"rendered":"
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    A former luxury hotel is now the world's largest slum and was once ruled over by a feared ex-con hardman who would yeet his enemies off the roof.<\/p>\n

    The 45-storey apartment block, known as the so-called "Tower of David", is home to thousands of inhabitants who have repurposed the former five-star hotel in Venezuela's capital Caracas into what is believed to be the world's tallest slum. What was set to be the jewel in the crown of a brand-new financial district is now an incomplete, abandoned project from 1994 now inhabited by thousands of locals and families.<\/p>\n

    Squatters seized the site in 2007, over a decade after developer David Brillembourg died and the project was abandoned, with the site repurposed as a safe haven from the turf wars and violence outside.<\/p>\n

    READ MORE: Archaeologists find ancient 'sandal' mould and say footwear could be 148,000 years old.<\/b><\/p>\n

    For more of the latest news and stories of despots chucking people from derelict buildings, click here.<\/b><\/p>\n

    The first 28 floors of the abandoned project were completely habitable for those hoping to squat there, but the further up the tower squatters went, the more trouble they ran into.<\/p>\n

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    Dangerous open spaces were bricked up and basic plumbing, electrical and water systems were also fitted for those living in the Tower of David. Floor delegates help to keep the communal corridors tidy, with rules and rotas apparently adhered to by those living in the vertical slum.<\/p>\n

    But in its darker days, the tower was run by a bloke known as El Nino \u2013 a born-again Christian who was known to throw his rivals from the roof of the tower. Not much is known about El Nino, or what happened to him, but the community living in the tower were the targets of an attempted police and army eviction in 2014.<\/p>\n

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