There are many ways to measure the prosperity of a country. You could use statistics, sophisticated analyses, charts and figures. Or you can just use your eyes.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal featured the Malzoni office building, the new jewel of São Paulo’s skyline and the symbol of Brazil’s investment boom. This 786,000-square-foot (73.000 square meters) structure is not yet opened, but all its premises are already taken by diverse companies as Bank of China and Google. The Pátio Victor Malzoni respected environmental codes and even preserved part of an 18th century house that stood on the building site.
Meanwhile in Caracas, the third highest building of the city made headlines of its own. The story of the Confinanzas tower (a.k.a. Torre de David) has already become something of a journalistic cliché, drawing stories in the New York Times, Foreign Policy and the BBC. Neighbors in La Candelaria have called it “a tollbooth of death”. But it’s just one of the 26 buildings currently taken by squatters in the area.
Last week police raided the building looking for a Costa Rican diplomat who had been kidnapped hours earlier. (He was released later in another location). Showing that due process is alive and well in la República Bolivariana, the La Torre de David’s squatters immediately protested over the raid in front of the Interior Ministry for damages caused by police to their homes and belongings. How dare the cops just barge in like that on other people’s property?
Two towers, two cities, two countries. Draw your own conclusions.
(The full WSJ article is available in Spanish, thanks to Argentinian newspaper La Nación.)
Caracas Chronicles 
Oh no, another discussion about Torre de David? Well anyway, here’s the report I finally published on the topic. http://stevenbodzin.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/monocle-24-worlds-tallest-squat-gives-caracas-an-urbanism-dillema/
And yours, free, at no extra charge, a media consumer tip: Don’t rely on El Nacional for reporting from poor neighborhoods.
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PS I know, I said the elections would be in November. No way to correct that once it’s broadcast, sadly.
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OK. Thanks, setty.
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“Two towers, two cities, two countries. Draw your own conclusions.”
I’ll make it short- capitalism at it’s peak vs. failure of “socialism”..
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I know what you mean Geha, the contrast. It irks me to no end seeing how people lack the understanding and analitic capabilities to see contrast like this, and deny,ignore or make excuses.
On another contrast example, Americans sometimes…a lot of the times make a big deal about the smallest things. In here, they make nothing(“me sabe a mierda”) about the biggest things like police raiding your house without warrant or reason at all,narco-generals (Rangel Silva), gifting oil to Cuba for doctors,Fonden and a remote president. No one cares as long as they don’t have a bullet between their eyes,or their blackberries stolen.
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One country looks towards development and tries, in its own manner, to take the steps of countries that were very poor after World War II and are now developed.
The other, looks backwards, and seeks to repeat all the mistakes (and crimes) that took seemingly promising and mostly new countries of that same era into the hall of shame of poorest, most unequal and most violent.
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“The other, looks backwards, and seeks to repeat all the mistakes (and crimes) that took seemingly promising and mostly new countries of that same era into the hall of shame of poorest, most unequal and most violent.”Time for a U-TURN. I want to see Venezuela
get it’s “mojo” back…
“Disambiguation”-MEANING OF LIFE-generally refers to a concept concerning the possible purpose and significance that may be attributed to human existence and one’s personal life.
We here write to this blog and to each other desiring a more meaningful life and existence,
and this is where others can find examples of how to think and live better. We WE
represent better government-not as elites highly educated -but as fair-minded, generous,
caring, humane beings…
Our cities, buildings, the people in them, reflect this.
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I’m with the squaters on this one.
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