Felipe Camiroaga - Posthumous Homages and Reactions

Posthumous Homages and Reactions

After the announcement of Camiroaga's death in the crash, thousands of people went to the façade of the Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) headquarters, in the commune of Providencia, to express their love and affection for Camiroaga, the rest of the team from Buenos Días a Todos and the other plane passengers. Such expressions of support were repeated in regional headquarters of the TV channel, where they placed some condolence books for the public.

On 5 September 2011, Julián Elfenbein, Carolina de Moras, Jorge Hevia, Karen Doggenweiler and emblematic staff of Buenos Días a Todos, friends, TVN personalities and from other channels —including competitors of the programme— joined to pay tribute to Camiroaga in his program. In that episode of Buenos Días a Todos, the first since Camiroaga's death, his friend and TV director Daniel Sagüés commented that Felipe once told him that he wanted Silvio Rodríguez's song "Ángel para un Final" to be played in his funeral. As soon as Rodríguez was informed of this, he commented on his blog it would be a "high honour" for him that his song was played at Camiroaga's funeral. Other international personalities, such as Lucero, Yuri, Ricardo Montaner, Alejandro Sanz, Ricky Martin, Luis Fonsi, amid others, expressed their sadness and consternation at Camiroaga's death, through the social networks Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The plane crash was extensively covered by the press, nationally and internationally, emphasizing the figure of the TV presenter, including BBC News from the United Kingdom. Qatari news channel Al Jazeera covered the news on the plane crash immediately after it occurred and also emphasized the deaths of Camiroaga and Felipe Cubillos. In Argentina, various media outlets referred to Camiroaga as "the Chilean Tinelli", in reference to Argentinean presenter Marcelo Tinelli. An Argentinean TV programme called Duro de Domar mocked the Juan Fernández tragedy, focusing on Camiroaga and his relationships with Rocío Marengo and Cecilia Bolocco, provoking harsh attacks from Chileans in social networks.

Chilean newspaper Las Últimas Noticias caused controversy on 2 September 2011; its digital edition cover was headlined "The last flight of the Falcon" ("El último vuelo del halcón"), which generated outrage from Internet users, as Camiroaga's whereabouts were unknown at the time. The cover was replaced and the next day the newspaper said the public had misinterpreted the intention of the headline.

Televisión Nacional de Chile decided to name the studio from which Buenos Días a Todos is transmitted "Felipe Camiroaga Fernández", and kept free the TV presenter's parking space to remember him. The municipality of Colina, where Camiroaga lived in Chicureo, announced they would name him posthumously "Illustrious Son" of the community. and the Lo Arcaya Avenue would be renamed after him. Additionally, the Chilean Telethon (Teletón) paid homage to Camiroaga and the twenty other passengers of the aircraft in its opening and at the Julio Martínez National Stadium in the fundraising's 2011 edition.

On 26 September 2011, the National Council of Television (Consejo Nacional de Televisión; CNTV) awarded posthumously Camiroaga with the "Special Award in Communications." The Sala Felipe Camiroaga (Felipe Camiroaga Room) in the Museum of Villa Alegre was inaugurated on 3 May 2012; personal belongings, public and private photographs and a bust of Camiroaga made by Galavarino Ponce are exhibited. His father, siblings, his partner Fernanda Hansen, close friends and followers were present at the ceremony.

In 2013, and as part of the student movement which started in 2011 demanding higher quality and free education in Chile —movement which Camiroaga supported—, students of the Law School of the University of Valparaíso created the Juventud Rebelde Felipe Camiroaga (Felipe Camiroaga Rebel Youth) political group, which describes itself as " left-wing students with no defined party, who believe that organization and participation are the necessary tools to make the changes we want," specifying also that "revolution is made by parts", satirizing Camiroaga's death. The group, according to Publimetro Chile, is "partly satire, partly real facts", and is not supposed to use Camiroaga's image as a "martyr", but as "a person who puts them into a crucial movilization frame." The Juventud Rebelde Felipe Camiroaga group has been replicated in other universities, including the University of Chile and the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences.