German-speaking Covid denialists seek to build paradise in Paraguay

A group of German, Austrian and Swiss immigrants has implanted an ideologically driven settlement in one of the country's poorest regions

A 1,600-hectare (4,000-acre) gated community, dubbed El Paraiso Verde, or The Green Paradise, is being carved out of the fertile red earth of Caazapa, one of Paraguay's poorest regions.

The community's population - consisting mainly of German, Austrian and Swiss immigrants - will eventually swell from 150 to 3,000, according to the owners.