Benjamín Mendoza y Amor Flores
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Benjamín Mendoza y Amor Flores (born 1935[1]) was a Bolivian surrealist painter who unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Pope Paul VI in Manila in 1970.
[edit] Personal life
Mendoza left La Paz, Bolivia, in 1962.[1] From 1962 until 1970, Mendoza lived in Argentina, the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines.[1]
[edit] Assassination attempt
On November 27, 1970, at approximately 9:30 in the morning, Mendoza, dressed as a priest, lunged at Pope Paul VI with a dagger shortly after the Pope disembarked from his chartered DC-8 jet at the airport in Manila.[2][1] However, the Pope escaped with his life and Mendoza was subdued and arrested.[1][2] Mendoza later went on to say, "I acted alone to save humanity from superstition."
On April 21, 1971, Mendoza was sentenced to an indefinite prison sentence.[2] He was eventually released from Manila's Bilibid Prison and deported to Bolivia.[2]
