UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

JUAN CARLOS MARTINEZ,

Petitioner,

v.

No. 96-2577

U.S. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION

SERVICE,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order

of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

(A70-691-505)

Submitted: June 12, 1997

Decided: June 23, 1997

Before WIDENER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and

PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.

_________________________________________________________________

Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

John William O'Leary, JOHN O'LEARY & ASSOCIATES, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Frank W. Hunger, Assistant Attorney

General, Civil Division, David M. McConnell, Assistant Director,

James A. Hunolt, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED

STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for

Respondent.

_________________________________________________________________
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Juan Carlos Martinez petitions for review of a final order of the

Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) denying his application for

asylum and withholding of deportation. Because substantial evidence

supports the Board's decision, we affirm.

Martinez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, entered the United

States in May 1993 without inspection by an immigration officer, in

violation of 8 U.S.C.A. § 1251(a)(1)(B) (West Supp. 1997). In August

1995, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) issued an

order to show cause why he should not be deported. Martinez filed

an application for asylum and withholding of deportation. Following

a hearing, in which Martinez conceded deportability, the Immigration

Judge (IJ) issued a decision denying asylum and withholding of

deportation but granting voluntary departure. The Board dismissed

Martinez's appeal after concluding that he had not demonstrated that

he has been persecuted in El Salvador or that a reasonable person in

his position would fear persecution if he returned. Martinez timely

petitions this court for review of the Board's order.

Martinez is a twenty-six year old single male. At his deportation

hearing, Martinez testified that guerillas came to his home in 1985 in

an attempt to recruit him into their organization. He refused the guerillas' offer and did not have any further problems with them since

that incident. The military also tried to recruit Martinez eight times

since 1987. That year the military took him into custody for several

days and physically assaulted him because he was suspected of being

a guerilla. In addition, the military told him that he was under an obligation to serve in the army. Martinez left El Salvador in 1993 and

fears that he will be drafted into the military if he returns.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) authorizes the

Attorney General, in her discretion, to confer asylum on any refugee.

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8 U.S.C. § 1158(a) (1994). The Act defines a refugee as a person

unwilling or unable to return to his native country"because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political

opinion." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) (1994); see M.A. v. INS, 899

F.2d 304, 307 (4th Cir. 1990) (en banc). The alien must prove that the

fear of persecution "stems directly from one of the five categories

listed in the Act." Huaman-Cornelio v. Board of Immigration

Appeals, 979 F.2d 995, 999 (4th Cir. 1992). If an applicant establishes

past persecution, he is presumed to have a well-founded fear of future

persecution rebuttable by evidence establishing a change in conditions

in the country such that any fear of future persecution is no longer

objectively reasonable. 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(1)(i) (1996).

This court must uphold the Board's decision if it is supported by

substantial evidence from the record as a whole. See HuamanCornelio, 979 F.2d at 999. The reviewing court can reverse the Board

only if the evidence "was so compelling that no reasonable fact finder

could fail to find the requisite fear of persecution." INS v. EliasZacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483-84 (1992). We conclude that substantial

evidence supports the Board's ruling.

On appeal, Martinez claims that he was persecuted because he

faced a relentless, ongoing, systematic pattern of abuse from government and military authority until he was forced to flee the war and the

country. He also claims to face a well-founded fear of future persecution. With regard to Martinez's fear of the guerillas, he testified that

he has not had any problems with them since 1985. His fear of serving in his country's military does not constitute persecution within the

meaning of the Act. See M.A., 899 F.2d at 312. Also, we do not find

that the evidence presented by Martinez about the 1987 military incident established persecution. Moreover, as the Board noted, conditions in El Salvador have changed since he left. Finally, Martinez's

fear of generalized violence does not entitle him to asylum. This court

has held that the asylum statute "does not extend eligibility for asylum

to anyone who fears the general danger that inevitably accompanies

political ferment and factional strife." Huaman-Cornelio, 979 F.2d at

1000. Martinez has articulated nothing more than a fear of generalized violence affecting the population as a whole.

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As Martinez has failed to meet the less stringent burden of proof

for asylum, he cannot meet the higher standard to qualify for withholding of deportation. See INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421,

430-32 (1987). Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are

adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument

would not aid the decisional process.

PETITION DENIED

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