Alcances e limites de um CCT Program: quão justificadas são as críticas ao Bolsa Família?

The reflections that Rúrion Melo has made in his review of the book Vozes do Bolsa Família, which he read with benevolent attention, prompted me not so much to issue a direct reply, rather to propose some considerations that, in part, move in the wake of some of Melo’s own arguments and, in part, represent an attempt to answer some of the criticisms to the Bolsa Família program that were mentioned in the review, although not endorsed by the author. In particular, I shall contextualize the Bolsa Família program and try to answer to some basic objection to CCT programs both as cash transfer programs and as conditional programs. Finally, I shall try to offer some remarks on the future of the program according to the possible political scenarios opened by the 2014 general election in Brazil.