Goodbye Tango Tango!

By: Dr. Roberto Romero Pineda

After marrying Dr. Virginia Mena (Vicky), we moved to the house located at Third Street Poniente number 5255 in Colonia Escalón; and very soon we met Romeo López Mejía and his wife Lilian Barbón, whom he affectionately called “My porous patch” who lived precisely at Quinta Calle Poniente number 5245, with their children, Nelson, Enrique, Geraldina, María Cecilia and Lourdes.  

We became very good friends; Vicky and Lilian formed a great alliance, because they were both “a little jealous”, with such a degree of excellence that the German Gestapo and the FBI were left pale by their investigative capacity.

Our friendship increased when, as the undersigned president of the San Salvador Noroeste Rotary Club, I invited Romeo to be a member of the Club; The two couples traveled to various events, and little by little I learned their story. In his youth, Romeo decided to go live in the United States of America, as he had many friends in San Francisco, California. At the outbreak of World War II he enlisted in the US Army, but when he underwent the medical examination, he did not pass because he had “flat feet”, but because he knew Spanish he was assigned as a translator in Military Intelligence. The war ended, but his adventurous spirit led him to enlist in the Merchant Marine (Navy) and he visited many countries; He called that chapter of his life “steamy” and one of his prized trophies was having met girls of 64 nationalities.

Once upon returning from vacation, his brother told him that a startup company called DIDEA had given him a job interview, but that he couldn't go, and he asked Romeo to come replace him, that's when he met Don. Luis Poma, who was amused by the adventures I told him; Later Romeo told me: “Don Luis fixed me with his penetrating blue eyes and questioned me about countless topics that I knew how to answer.”

Romeo began selling Buick brand vehicles; Blue Bird and others, but then DIDEA obtained the distribution of Toyota cars and Romeo traveled to Japan on multiple occasions, and over time and due to his good performance he was named General Manager of DIDEA.

Romeo, an expert car salesman, told me that once he encountered a somewhat difficult client; “I showed her cars of different colors, but she insisted on a black one” when asked about this preference, she replied: “black is a very severe color.” 

With his way of being, Romeo had countless friends, among them the presidents of the Republic of El Salvador, whom he visited and had their private telephone numbers; to everyone it was about “you”; and Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero simply “Oscar.”

In the Rotary Club, Romeo had several admirers and on one occasion, one of them, who was more adventurous, proposed to him: "And you and I, because we can't be more than friends." That statement was not to her liking and on one occasion when she was addressing towards us, Romeo told me: “here comes my slow poison.”

As a family, Romeo was very loving with his children; Unfortunately, at a very young age, her daughter Maria Cecilia died, whom she remembered with great nostalgia and on one of the walls of her house, she had a very large photo of her.  

Romeo affectionately called me “Tango Tango” but one day my daughter Florence asked him why. Romeo was a professional radio amateur, in his house he had long-range antennas, including the Control Tower of the Ilopango International Airport. Once, around eight at night, Romeo heard the voice of a gringo on the radio who in his Spanish was asking permission to land saying: “This is Tango Tango over San Vicente, descending”, he liked that a lot and since then He baptized me “Tango Tango”, which Lilian and her children also adopted, calling me that still today.

Romeo enjoyed an incredible memory, he remembered many things with precision of day and time; In all the meetings he had a little notebook on hand where he wrote down the jokes, but they were not written down, only numbers appeared, and when he selected one of them, he brought it to mind instantly. Romeo also had another notebook to write down the names of the cheros who had come before him in life.

As you said: “Ah those times”; I will always remember you and I think that this is the time that you already cracked a couple of jokes to Saint Peter and you have him written down in your notebook as one of your new friends; With that confidence and charisma that characterized you, you can surely ask him to lend you his heavenly mariachis, so that they can sing again to “your porous parchito” the beloved song of the great Mexican composer Agustín Lara, “Only once”…See you forever! Tango Tango!