Miranda-Alvarado

BACKGROUND

In 1981, Miranda, a native and citizen of Peru, joined the Peruvian Civil Guard in Lima. He was nineteen years old. His duties included protecting government officials and banks from attacks by guerrilla organizations. Because Miranda was a native speaker of Quechua as well as Spanish, he was also assigned to serve as a community leader in an impoverished Quechua-speaking neighborhood on the city’s outskirts. In that role his tasks ranged from resolving land-use disputes to preventing infiltration by the guerrilla organization Sendero Luminoso (“Shining Path”). “Sendero Luminoso is a Maoist guerilla organization, founded around 1980, that opposes the current Peruvian government. Sendero Luminoso commits terrorist acts against both government officials and civilians.” Cruz-Navarro v. INS, 232 F.3d 1024, 1027 n.4 (9th Cir. 2000). Miranda presented evidence — including evidence that Shining Path members shot another community leader and destroyed her body with explosives — indicating that as a community leader he faced substantial risks from the Shining Path.

Beginning in 1982, Miranda received orders to serve as an interpreter for other officers who interrogated…