Venezuela's Tower of Dreams Our World

Moritz, BBC News. For Our World this week, film`maker

Olly Lambert visits Venezuela and the capital's unfinished skyscraper,

the Tower of David, to find a community of squatters who have made

it their home. This is the Tower of David in the

heart of Caracas. It was designed in the 1980s and was supposed to become

the centre of Venezuelan's banking industry. Halfway through building

it, the project was scrapped when money ran out. Now, it is a monument

to Venezuelan's crumbling economy. ``Venezuela. Today, it is home to

over 2000 squatters, a kind of vertical slalom. They have

transformed the tower into a thriving and ordered society. ``

slum. It is now a community where people

live, work, and raise their families in safety.

I spent two weeks in the tower. How could these people have built a

century in the ruins of a skyscraper? In one of the most

violent cities in the world? `` sanctuary.

When President Hugo Chavez died a year ago, he left behind a turbulent

nation. His successor, Nicolas Maduro, has been struggling to keep

it grip on Venezuelan ever since. `` keep a grip. As well as food

shortages and massive inflation, it is one of the kidnapping and murder

capitals of the world. Seven years ago, a group of squatters saw this

derelict half built skyscraper as they do it yourself solution to

Venezuelan 's chronic housing shortage.

With housing in Caracas in such sort supply, there is not much

opportunity. The residents are on a waiting list and every square foot

is in demand. But millions of people across

Venezuela see things differently. They regard the government's

socialist policies as the cause of the country's troubles. And many are

calling on the President to resign. Clashes between the protesters and

the police have left many dead on both sides.

Friday was the warmest day of the year so far as we got within 24

Celsius. We could beat that in the days ahead. Some very warm weather

in the forecast. Our weather is never that straightforward. For some

of us, there will be rain over the