A viral video on social media shows an argument between a Hialeah business owner and a Venezuelan couple.
The video has unleashed a fierce debate among Cubans and Venezuelans in South Florida.
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WATCH HEREThe business owner, Miguel Cedron, said the couple deliberately disobeyed his store's policy while the couple claims it was the business owner who was being difficult from the beginning.
It happened on Saturday. Surveillance video of the incident from inside the Hialeah store that rents out U-Hauls shows Cedron tell a man he needs to wait outside.
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The woman, who happens to be Venezuelan actress and model Norkys Batista, responds, saying "No," and that he’s her husband. She claims she was trying to tell Cedron that her husband is the one who is going to pay, but the Cedron refused to rent them U-Haul at that point.
There's another video that shows the store owner referring to their Venezuelan nationality in a derogatory way as he's kicking them out of his business. He’s also heard telling them "to get out of Hialeah."
“They were told also that the policy of the store is posted it’s only one person in the store because of security reasons and space,” Cedron said. “She said she couldn’t stay in here without her husband, so I simply basically told her I wasn’t going to be doing any rental.”
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“It was against the nationality. I’m very worried that we are experiencing this in the U.S., in Chile, in Ecuador, Peru, in any country where there’s Venezuelans,” Batista said.
Cedron claims that when he made the comment about Venezuelans, he wasn't referring to all of them but rather only the ones present at his business. He threatened legal action if the incident affected his bottom line.
Meanwhile, Batista said she's speaking with an attorney and has already reported the situation to U-Haul.
