Chapecoense Returns to Antioquia to Unveil Crash-Site Memorial and Play Atlético Nacional

Brazilian and Colombian Firms Back a Chapecoense Memorial in La Unión

Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense arrives in Medellín on Thursday, September 24, for a four-day visit marking 10 years since the LaMia air disaster in La Unión, Antioquia. The visit is part of a program, announced by the Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Medellín in a September 22 release, that runs through September 29 and includes the unveiling of a memorial at the crash site, a groundbreaking for a larger monument in the town, and a friendly match against Atlético Nacional at Medellín’s Estadio Atanasio Girardot on Saturday, September 26.

On the night of November 28, 2016, an aircraft of the private Bolivian airline LaMia went down on a hillside in the vereda (rural district) of Pantalio, in La Unión, near José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro, which serves Medellín. The crash killed 71 of the people on board, who were Brazilian, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Venezuelan nationals, as Chapecoense traveled to face Atlético Nacional in the final of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana. Six people survived. Colombia’s Aeronáutica Civil (Civil Aviation Authority) later concluded that the aircraft had run out of fuel. At Atlético Nacional’s request, CONMEBOL declared Chapecoense the 2016 champion, according to El Deportivo. The consulate describes the match as a tribute to the Campeones del Cielo (Champions of the Sky), the name given to the victims.

The visit also includes a cornerstone ceremony for a larger, second monument in La Unión that, according to the regional sportswriters’ association ACORD Antioquia, is financed by a group of Brazilian and Colombian companies. Builders affiliated with Camacol Antioquia, the regional chapter of Colombia’s construction chamber, are also backing the project, according to the consulate.

Airport Reception and a Ceremony at the Crash Site

The delegation will be received on Thursday afternoon at José María Córdova airport by staff of Airplan, the concessionaire that operates the terminal, whose employees supported the survivors in the hours after the crash, according to the consulate. On Friday morning, Atlético Nacional will hold a ceremony for the visitors at its training facility in Guarne, in eastern Antioquia.

That afternoon, the Brazilian delegation of players, coaching staff, club directors, press and invited guests will travel to Pantalio, to the hill where the aircraft came down, which the consulate says was renamed Cerro Chapecoense shortly after the accident. The ceremony there includes a prayer, the unveiling of the first memorial to the victims, remarks by local and Brazilian officials, and the raising of the flags of Brazil, Chapecoense and the municipality of La Unión. The memorial is a monolith clad in black marble and inscribed with references to the tragedy. It was donated by the Eco Parque Chapecoense, according to ACORD Antioquia.

The Fuerza Aeroespacial Colombiana (Colombian Aerospace Force), known as the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (Colombian Air Force) at the time of the crash, led the rescue of that night’s survivors and the transfer of the victims’ remains. The consulate said the force may fly over the site during the ceremony if weather and operational conditions allow.

The altimeter from the LaMia aircraft, kept by residents of La Unión and being donated to Chapecoense. (Photo courtesy Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Medellín)

Residents of the area have kept components of the aircraft in a Chapecoense museum in La Unión. At the ceremony, they will donate to the club the aircraft’s altimeter, which the consulate says carries symbolic information from the moment of the crash. The instrument will go to the club’s own museum in Chapecó, Brazil. ACORD Antioquia reported that club president Alex Boff Passos will receive a piece from the local memorial museum on behalf of Chapecoense.

Groundbreaking for the Memorial La Unión–Chapecó

From the hillside, the delegation will move to the 19 de Diciembre sports complex in the center of La Unión, where the Alcaldía de La Unión (La Unión Mayor’s Office) has designated land for a larger monument, the Memorial La Unión–Chapecó. Camacol Antioquia is organizing the cornerstone ceremony with the mayor’s office, the municipal council and the consulate. The sculptors who worked on both memorials will attend.

Design renderings and a reference image for the Memorial La Unión–Chapecó. (Image courtesy Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Medellín)

ACORD Antioquia reported that the project has been led for several years by Sergio Escobar Solórzano, whom El Colombiano identified as Brazil’s honorary consul in Antioquia. El Colombiano reported in May that the design includes a circular plaza for commemorative events, a wall of plaques, 71 beams of light projected into the night sky, one for each victim, and a park of Colombian and Brazilian flags, and that sculptors Nelson Agustín Agudelo and Carolina Castaño would build it. Under that plan, Camacol Antioquia would supply materials and design, the municipality would provide labor, and Brazilian manufacturer WEG (B3: WEGE3; OTC: WEGZY), which the newspaper said has offices in Rionegro, would contribute energy components. Ferney Lotero, first vice president of the La Unión municipal council, told the newspaper: “Hay muchas empresas que van a aportar” (Many companies are going to contribute). The target then was completion by the 10th anniversary in November, and the newspaper reported that the final budget had not been set. The consulate’s release does not give an updated completion date or budget.

Site plan and aerial rendering of the Memorial La Unión–Chapecó prepared with Camacol Antioquia. (Image courtesy Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Medellín)

The Partido de la Amistad Eterna at the Atanasio Girardot

Atlético Nacional and Chapecoense meet on Saturday, September 26, at 3:30 p.m. in the Partido de la Amistad Eterna (Match of Eternal Friendship), which its organizer has described as a reunion that transcends soccer. The consulate’s release and the promotional poster list a 4 p.m. start, while ACORD Antioquia and Deportes RCN report 3:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale through Atlético Nacional’s Tribuna Verde platform. Deportes RCN reported single-ticket prices, including service and delivery charges, ranging from $44,648 COP for the gramilla (field level) and the north and south stands to $190,230 COP for the platea (premium seating) section, with lower prices for season-ticket holders.

Promotional poster for the Partido de la Amistad Eterna between Atlético Nacional and Chapecoense. (Image courtesy Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Medellín)

Before kickoff, organizers plan to recognize people the consulate calls the “invisible heroes” of the night of the crash, followed by remarks from local and Brazilian representatives.

A Documentary Trailer and a Donation to a Rural School

On Sunday, September 27, at 11 a.m., Medellín production company Roca Films will present the trailer of the documentary Chapecó: El último sobreviviente, nace una hermandad (Chapecó: The Last Survivor, a Brotherhood Is Born) to the Brazilian delegation and the press. According to the consulate, the film reconstructs previously unpublished details of the tragedy and honors the survivors, in particular one of the club’s players, who will attend the screening. The film’s poster credits Edison Vanegas Álvarez as director. In November 2017, Noticias Caracol reported on a 42-minute documentary titled El último sobreviviente, directed by Edison Vanegas, then head of communications for the Policía Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá (Valle de Aburrá Metropolitan Police), about the rescue of Chapecoense defender Helio Zampier Neto.

Poster for the documentary Chapecó: El último sobreviviente, nace una hermandad, produced by Roca Films. (Image courtesy Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Medellín)

The final event takes place on Tuesday, September 29, when Colombian and international companies with ties to Brazil will donate a set of kitchen appliances to the Centro Educativo Rural La Almería (La Almería Rural Education Center), at its Pantalio campus, for use by its students, teachers and staff. According to the consulate, residents along the road leading to Cerro Chapecoense have decorated the route in the colors of the Brazilian flag.

Headline photo: The black marble monolith memorial to the victims of the 2016 LaMia crash, to be unveiled at Cerro Chapecoense in La Unión, Antioquia. (Image courtesy Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Medellín)