Roberto Meléndez Lara, nicknamed El Flaco, (born in Barranquilla, 31 March 1912 - died 20 May 2000) was a Colombian football player and coach who played in the 1930s and 1940s, in the amateur era of the sport.

He was a player for Barranquilla Juventud Junior who, in large part due to his efforts, became the most powerful amateur club in Colombia during that period.

[1] Meléndez was also head coach of the Colombia national team and coached them to a fifth-place finish in the Copa América 1945 and in 1947 to an 8th-place finish.

[2] He was also head coach of Atletico Junior in the early 1940s, who were runners-up in the first championship league football in 1948.

[4] The Barranquilla main metropolitan stadium Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez was officially renamed after Meléndez, on the initiative of journalist Chelo de Castro on 17 March 1991.