Paez Torres v. Gonzales

MEMORANDUM **

Augusto Fernando Paez Torres, a native and citizen of Peru, petitions pro se for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming, without opinion, an immigration judge’s (“U”) decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . Reviewing for substantial evidence, Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d 1482, 1487 (9th Cir.1997), we deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s determination that Paez Torres did not establish past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of his membership in a particular social group or his political opinion. Contrary to Paez Torres’s contention, the IJ was not required to draw an inference that the Shining Path guerrillas persecuted him at least in part on the basis of his political opinion or affiliation with an anti-communist political party solely on the basis of his extensive, visible involvement in that party. See id. (holding that a petitioner *773 can establish an inference of improper motive only if “the inference is one that is clearly to be…