Lucas-Perez

MEMORANDUM **

Lucas Lucas-Perez, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) order denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence the IJ’s denial of asylum and withholding of removal, Cordon-Garcia v. INS, 204 F.3d 985, 990 (9th Cir.2000), and we review for abuse of discretion the IJ’s denial of humanitarian asylum, Belayneh v. INS, 213 F.3d 488, 491 (9th Cir.2000). We deny the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s finding that the government rebutted the presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution by the Guatemalan government because the IJ did an individualized analysis of changed country conditions in Guatemala that is supported by the record. See Gonzalez-Hernandez v. Ashcroft, 336 F.3d 995, 998-99 (9th Cir.2003).

Substantial evidence also supports the IJ’s finding that Lucas-Perez’s claim of a well-founded fear of future persecution based on retaliation from a neighboring family in Guatemala lacks a nexus to a protected ground. See…