A Young Man’s Desperation Challenges Tunisia’s Repression

On Dec. 17, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old university Tunisian graduate who took to selling vegetables when he was unable to find work, set himself on fire after police confiscated his unlicensed vegetable cart. His desperate act has caused a spontaneous outpouring of public anger in Tunisia over economic conditions and the ruling family’s endemic corruption.

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