Alvarado-Guzman

MEMORANDUM ***

Carmen Alvarado-Guzman, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ *582 (“BIA”) decision, which affirmed the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) order denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 .

Where, as here, the BIA conducted a de novo review of the record and made an independent determination of whether relief is appropriate, this Court reviews the decision of the BIA. See Molina-Morales v. INS, 237 F.3d 1048, 1050 (9th Cir.2001). We review for substantial evidence, Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d 1012, 1015 (9th Cir.2003), and we deny the petition for review.

Alvarado-Guzman contends that the BIA erred when it found that she did not establish past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution. We disagree. Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s conclusion that Alvarado-Guzman failed to establish past persecution based on one of the five protected grounds. See Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d 1482, 1491 (9th Cir.1997) (finding that petitioner failed to show that he faced problems on account of his political…