Moreno-Aguilar

MEMORANDUM *

Wilber A. Moreno-Aguilar petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his request for political asylum. A native of Guatemala, Moreno-Aguilar entered the United States without inspection in August of 1995. He applied for asylum because of his alleged fear of political persecution if he returned to Guatemala.

At his deportation hearing, Moreno-Aguilar testified to three incidents that occurred involving Guatemalan soldiers. In the first incident, government soldiers forced Moreno-Aguilar’s father to accompany them in their search for guerillas. The soldiers threatened and kicked Moreno-Aguilar’s father in order to secure his assistance. In the second incident, men dressed in black (allegedly government soldiers) accused Antonio Mendez (a Mend of Moreno’s) of being a guerilla and forced Mr. Mendez and four of his Mends into a car. Mr. Mendez’s body, which had been burned, was later found by the side of the road. In the third incident, the men in black kidnaped another of Moreno-Aguilar’s Mends, one Santoa Algaredo. Moreno-Aguilar believed that the abductors were government soldiers “because there’s no one else going around…