Santamaria

MEMORANDUM **

Denis Estuardo Santamaría, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) summary affirmance of an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of deportation. Because the transitional rules apply, Kalaw v. INS, 133 F.3d 1147, 1150 (9th Cir.1997), we have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a). We review for substantial evidence, Lata v. INS, 204 F.3d 1241, 1245 (9th Cir.2000), and will uphold the IJ’s decision unless the evidence compels a contrary conclusion, INS v. Elias-Zacharias, 502 U.S. 478, 483-84 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992). We deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s decision because Santamaría did not establish that the incidents that occurred in Guatemala in 1990-1992 were on account of his political opinion or any other statutorily-protected ground. See id. at 482-83 , 112 S.Ct. 812 ; see also Canas-Segovia v. INS, 970 F.2d 599, 601 (9th Cir.1992) (explaining that pursuant to Elias-Zacarias, “the victim needs to show the persecutor had a protected basis (such as the victim’s political opinion) in mind in undertaking…