NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

ARMANDO LLAMA PEREZ, 

Petitioner, 

 v. 

MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney 

General, 

Respondent.

No. 19-72946 

Agency No. A215-862-477 

MEMORANDUM*

On Petition for Review of an Order of the

Board of Immigration Appeals

Submitted December 21, 2022**

San Francisco, California

Before: HAWKINS, S.R. THOMAS, and McKEOWN, Circuit Judges.

Armando Llama Perez, a native and citizen of Cuba, petitions pro se for 

review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal 

from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum, 

withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). 

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent 

except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision 

without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

FILED

DEC 23 2022

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
2 

We review the agency’s factual findings for substantial evidence, Conde Quevedo v. 

Barr, 947 F.3d 1238, 1241 (9th Cir. 2020), and we deny the petition for review. 

Substantial evidence supports the agency’s determination that the harm Llama 

Perez experienced in Cuba, even considered cumulatively, did not rise to the level 

of past persecution. See Gu v. Gonzales, 454 F.3d 1014, 1019‒21 (9th Cir. 2006) 

(record of past harm that included detention and interrogation did not compel a 

finding of past persecution); Nagoulko v. INS, 333 F.3d 1012, 1016 (9th Cir. 2003) 

(“Persecution . . . is an extreme concept that does not include every sort of treatment 

our society regards as offensive.”) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). 

Substantial evidence also supports the agency’s determination that Llama Perez 

failed to establish a well-founded fear of future persecution. See Gu, 454 F.3d at 

1022 (petitioner failed “to present compelling, objective evidence demonstrating a 

well-founded fear of persecution”); see also Nagoulko, 333 F.3d at 1018 (possibility 

of future persecution “too speculative”). Llama Perez thus failed to establish 

eligibility for asylum, and necessarily also failed to establish the higher standard for 

withholding of removal. See Zehatye v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1190 (9th Cir. 

2006).

Substantial evidence also supports the agency’s denial of CAT relief because 

Llama Perez failed to show it is more likely than not he will be tortured by or with 

the consent or acquiescence of the government if returned to Cuba. See Aden v. 
3 

Holder, 589 F.3d 1040, 1047 (9th Cir. 2009); see also Zheng v. Holder, 644 F.3d 

829, 835–36 (9th Cir. 2011) (possibility of torture too speculative).1

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED in part; DISMISSED in part. 

1 To the extent Llama Perez contends he suffered psychological harm rising 

to the level of persecution, or that he will be persecuted for seeking asylum in the 

United States, we lack jurisdiction to consider these contentions because he did not 

raise these claims before the BIA and they are dismissed. See Barron v. Ashcroft, 

358 F.3d 674, 677–78 (9th Cir. 2004). We do not consider any new evidence Llama 

Perez attached to his opening brief, as our review is limited to the administrative 

record. See Fisher v. INS, 79 F.3d 955, 963 (9th Cir. 1996) (en banc); see also 8 

U.S.C. §1252(b)(4)(A).