Portillo-Aceituno

MEMORANDUM **

Rene Leonel Portillo-Aceituno, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) order denying his applications for asylum and withholding of deportation. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105a. 1 *687 Where the BIA reviews de novo the Id’s decision, we review the BIA’s decision for substantial evidence. De Leon-Barrios v. INS, 116 F.3d 391 , 393 (9th Cir.1997). We must uphold the decision unless the evidence compels a contrary result. See INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). We grant the petition.

The record compels the conclusion that Portillo-Aceituno faces a well-founded fear of persecution based on imputed political opinion. See Aguilera-Cota v. INS, 914 F.2d 1375, 1378-1380 (9th Cir.1990). Portillo-Aceituno credibly testified that he feared being killed by the guerrillas because they tortured and killed his cousin, a sergeant in the army with whom the guerrillas closely associated Portillo-Aceituno. He also testified that the guerrillas sent death threats to him and his cousin, falsely…