Guatemalan citizen Juan Velasquez-Lopez petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that affirmed an immigration judge’s (IJ’s) denial of withholding of removal. We conclude for the reasons explained by the IJ and the BIA that Velasquez-Lopez failed to show it was more likely than not that he would be persecuted on account of a protected ground if returned to Guatemala. See Malonga v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 546, 551-52 (8th Cir. 2008); Davila-Mejia v. Mukasey, 531 F.3d 624, 628-29 (8th Cir. 2008). Accordingly, we deny the petition.