Rebellion and violence in the first black nation to claim independence is heartbreaking ? but the alternative was worse, according to Haitian Marc Mondesir, who arrived in Bermuda two weeks ago.

?Haiti was the first black nation to claim its independence, and one of the first nations in the Western hemisphere to claim its independence,? the newly arrived expatriate worker told this week.

?Every little Haitian child should know that. They should be infused with that little bit of self-esteem they need to be the best that they can be in life.

?They claimed independence (from France in 1804) and then found themselves under a harsh and violent dictatorship for generations... Now, they are not in the news because of exporting drugs. They are a nation of oppressed people fighting for their freedom... You have a nation of people that aren?t settling for less.

?There are worse stories in the news.?

Violence broke out in the Caribbean country in recent weeks as rebels amassed to force president Jean-Bertrand Aristide out of the country.

Though he was originally elected democratically in 1990, Aristide has not lived up to his promises, said Mr. Mondesir. There are also questions stemming from what the CIA World Factbook termed ?fraudulent legislative elections? in 2000, when Aristide was ?elected? to a second term. After those elections the US and the EU suspended all aid to Haiti, a country where more than 80 percent of the population live below the poverty line.

?Politics is a game of information,? said Mr. Mondesir, who is working at A.F. Smith the office people. ?Some have it, some don?t. Some are following blindly.

?He (Aristide) was elected democratically to do things. If he doesn?t do them, there should be change. That?s what compels political leaders to do things, the fear of not being re-elected. If you take that away, what leverage do the people have??

Mr. Mondesir?s parents left Haiti for the United States, where he was born, around 25 years ago, he said.

Early in his childhood they moved to Ottawa, Canada, where his father worked as a translator for the Bank of Canada.

They visited family in Haiti several times during Mr. Mondesir?s childhood, including his mother?s family in the capital city, Port-au-Prince. A black man growing up in a small town in Ontario, Mr. Mondesir said he felt a strong connection with the country of his parents ? a country where 95 percent of the population is black.

He remembered small chocolate bars called ?Tablets?, and the pride with which people walked the streets ? one of the few parallels he could draw between Haitians and Bermudians.

Though many things took some getting used to, he said it was good to be in a place where people spoke his language and ?be recognised as a young Haitian man?.

There was a massive disparity in the country between the ?haves? and the ?have-nots?, he said. According to the CIA World Factbook, almost two-thirds of the labour force do not have formal jobs. The country, which has been plagued by political violence and dictatorship since its struggle for independence, has fallen from wealth to one of the poorest in the Western hemisphere.

?In the time he (Aristide) has been president the country hasn?t really improved,? said Mr. Mondesir.

People were dying in the effort to oust the president, he said, and Aristide had no control, military or otherwise, over rebel forces. ?In a situation where they (Government) has lost control, they must step down. And he wouldn?t step down.?

As such, the rebellion and bloodshed is ?heartbreaking?, he said. ?But it?s also a good news story in that you have a nation of people that aren?t settling for less. ?It?s always heartbreaking when you see your motherland falling apart... but you have to consider the alternative.?

Haiti?s alternatives, he said, were more bloodshed, or the continuation of Aristide?s rule and what he termed ?oppression?. Violence proved to be the answer, he said, however it is not always so.

The problem now, he added, is for people to remember that violence is a last resort, and not use the rebellion?s success as a justification for future bloodshed.

?Malcolm X brought the human rights struggle a quarter of the way. (Dr.) Martin Luther King (Jr.) brought it the other three quarters ? some would say all the way. One advocated peace; the other began with violence.

?I would hope Haitians living in Haiti would now look to more peaceful ways of demonstration.?

Mr. Mondesir also hoped for what he described as a ?utopian? vision: a country with a Police force which would allow the people to feel safe, and an education system which would allow children to learn.

?I don?t want history repeating itself,? he said. ?Sometimes you have to take a few steps back to be able to take those leaps forward.?