Main content

Why a South Korean church bought a village in Paraguay

How a controversial religious group from South Korea gained ownership of a remote village in Paraguay.

Puerto Casado is a remote village in Paraguay, in South America. It’s not dissimilar to many other rural towns in the area: red-brick houses, small grocery stores and unpaved roads. But what makes Puerto Casado an exception is that it’s at the centre of a land dispute between the Paraguayan state, local residents and the Unification Church, a controversial religious group from South Korea. Ronald Avila-Claudio from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Mundo has recently been there. Plus, what the re-opening of the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea means to people living there, with Girmay Gebru from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ News Africa; and a diver swimming with a great white shark and other viral stories, with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Indonesian's Famega Syavira Putri.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ journalists from all around the world. This is an EcoAudio certified production.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Today 02:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Saturday 02:32GMT
  • Saturday 17:32GMT
  • Saturday 23:32GMT
  • Yesterday 03:32GMT
  • Yesterday 09:32GMT
  • Yesterday 22:32GMT
  • Today 02:32GMT