Jumique-Lopez

MEMORANDUM **

Julio Cesar Jumique-Lopez, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) affirmance without opinion of the Immigration Judge’s (“D”) final order denying his application for asylum. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we grant the petition for review.

The IJ’s conclusion that Jumique-Lopez’s fear of future persecution is “specula *332 tive rather than well founded” was not supported by substantial evidence. Jumique-Lopez was threatened on five or six occasions by members of the army who told him to stop his work in propaganda advertising for the Central Union Party (“UCN”). His work appeared in a newspaper that was published nationwide. On one occasion, a gun was placed to his chest as the threat was repeated. In addition, Jumique-Lopez’s father was fnurdered for his involvement with the UCN. Finally, Jumique-Lopez testified that as the newspaper is distributed throughout the entire country, he would not be safe from persecution anywhere in Guatemala. Cf. Kaiser v. Ashcroft, 390 F.3d 653, 659-60 (9th Cir.2004).

Although the IJ found that it was merely “speculative” that the Guatemalan…