The bar, which for a long time had been known as “dead,” was reborn by the efforts of Gonzalez as a non-farm cooperative, a type of business arrangement for the self-employed promoted by Raul Castro’s government beginning in 2012. In just under six years, more than 420 Non-farm Cooperatives (CNA) have been authorized in the country, with more than 12,000 members, the vast majority of them dedicated to food service, commerce, other services, construction and industry. Although the cooperatives are going through uncertain times because of the fear of an announcement of measures that would restrict their autonomy, that of the González brothers had the wind in its sails. With its 15 seats around the bar in the shape of a knife on the fashionable corner of Vapor and Principe, the establishment attracted a parade of announcers and actors from nearby Radio Progreso, regulars from the surrounding neighborhood, and even ecstatic foreigners who came looking for the real authentic touch that Silvia’s still retains. The corner was renewed. The facades etched by humidity received new paint and the wooden bar, polished by the elbows of its customers and their glasses, was restored. In a videoclip of the song Más Macarena*, recorded by Gente de Zona and Los Del Río, the transformation that was beginning was already visible. Above the bar is a tourist accommodation with large windows that rents through Airbnb.
Todd Brizendine