Vicente-Sarat

MEMORANDUM **

Maximo Wilson Vicente-Sarat, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming an Immigration Judge’s denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . Reviewing for substantial evidence, Ali v. Ashcroft, 394 F.3d 780, 784 *561 (9th Cir.2005), we grant the petition for review and remand.

Substantial evidence does not support the BIA’s finding that Vicente-Sarat failed to establish past persecution. We conclude that the repeated beatings, sleep deprivation, water submersion and forced ingestion of animal blood rose to the level of past persecution. See Duarte de Guinac v. INS, 179 F.3d 1156, 1162 (9th Cir. 1999). Additionally, a nexus was established between the beatings and a protected ground because the harms were coupled with statements that Vicente-Sarat and his uncle were guerrilla sympathizers. See id. at 1161 .

Because Vicente-Sarat suffered past persecution, he is entitled to the presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13…