STAMFORD — When a dispute between the Peruvian government and indigenous people there bubbled into violence earlier this month, Stamford resident Huascar Cabanillas was all too familiar with what was going on.

The local schoolteacher, trained as a lawyer in his home country, recently spent seven months in Peru working with indigenous groups to protect their land from unbridled development.

The issue is the crux of the dispute that boiled over when indigenous protesters clashed with police in the Bagua province. Indigenous groups in the country’s rugged northern territory have resisted the Peruvian government’s recent push to open rain forests to oil drilling, mining, logging and hydroelectric dams. On June 6, violence broke out between police and hundreds of protesters who blocked a highway, and at least a dozen people were killed.

Now Cabanillas, who had returned to the United States weeks before the Bagua incident, is calling for a “crusade” within Stamford’s Peruvian community to raise awareness about the fight over indigenous land. It is not yet clear whether Peruvian community leaders will respond to the call, which comes two weeks after Mayor Dannel Malloy signed a “sister city” agreement with Lima, Peru.

“My only concern in this whole situation is pacification, respect for life, human dignity and social justice,” Cabanillas said. “You cannot have peace if you don’t have social justice.”

Cabanillas’ passion comes from being in the thick of the conflict. He said he has seen mountaintops strip mined and lakes in northern Peru drained until people were rationed water two hours per day. On his laptop, he carries video clips of mining companies filling holes in the mountain with explosives to blast away the stone. Companies have used mercury to extract the gold, and residents have been sickened by exposure to the heavy metal and other contaminants.  He said the answer to such problems is not to prevent development but to give indigenous communities the tools they need to protect themselves from unchecked development. Through his work in Peru, he informed indigenous groups of the political and legal resources available to them. Often the message was difficult to communicate, as many indigenous people are not highly educated and speak native dialects rather than Spanish, he said.

Cabanillas said he hopes other Hispanic community leaders in Stamford will join him in a three-step plan: First, to educate people in the area about indigenous rights and protecting natural resources in Peru; second, to create a committee to monitor what’s happening with oil, gas and mining in Peru; and third, to build relationships between lower Fairfield County and rural communities in Peru that will facilitate charitable donations and outreach work. To focus the effort, Cabanillas said he wants to organize a forum on indigenous issues within the next month and get the attention of U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Greenwich, and others.

“If you ask me, ‘What can I do?’ I’m going to answer, ‘You tell me,’ ” Cabanillas said. “My only job is expose you to the reality.”

But 3,000 miles from the conflict, it is unclear how Stamford’s Peruvian community will respond to the call for a crusade. Alex Martinez, president of the Peruvian American Community Center, called Cabanillas’ efforts “well-founded,” but said he is not well enough informed about the Bagua incident to have an opinion on the matter.

“It is of some concern as a Peruvian-American living in Connecticut when you hear of any fellow nationals losing their lives, especially when it could have been avoided,” Martinez said. “It is unfortunate, and hopefully things can get worked out.”

But Martinez also said most Peruvians have “a deep respect for the indigenous people of Peru,” especially because many recognize they have indigenous roots in their own families.

Stamford’s sister city arrangement with Lima has the potential to facilitate communication about indigenous concerns, Martinez said. Last month, three Peruvian Congresswomen who represent indigenous areas visited Stamford in recognition of the partnership after attending a United Nations forum on indigenous issues in New York. Next month, Peruvian leaders in Stamford hope to send a delegation in Lima to meet with city officials there.

“Obviously the delegation would by no means be going there trying to affect foreign policy, but maybe to lend a sympathetic ear,” Martinez said.

The sister city program, first initiated by President Eisenhower in the 1950s, is intended to encourage international friendship and social, cultural and economic exchange.

Malloy said Friday that no one had yet brought concerns about the issue to his attention, but he would be willing to listen, he said.

“We certainly would want to hear about it, and we certainly would want to protect people’s human rights and natural resources,” Malloy said. “I’ll wait to be briefed by the Peruvian community and take it from there.”

Staff Writer Magdalene Perez can be reached at magdalene.perez@scni.com or (203) 964-2240.