海角大神

The orange boat racing up the Amazon River tributary is loaded with the essentials for fighting poverty in the jungle: a chainsaw and a dozen social workers.听

The river has swollen some 60 feet with the rainy season, and the captain looks out for logs and branches that might rip into the hull. He's also looking for signs of human life in this dense jungle, one of the poorest regions in Brazil's vast territory.听

The boat turns down an inlet nearly invisible through the dense green overgrowth, and the team spots an elderly man casting a fishing net. It鈥檚 apparent he鈥檚 blind as he feels his way to shore, his right thumb missing from a past piranha attack.听

鈥淗ow good is God?鈥� the man calls out, his skin rough and wrinkled like worn leather. 鈥淚鈥檝e been praying for you to come, and suddenly you鈥檙e here,鈥� he tells the social workers.

This expedition is part of Busca Ativa, or 鈥渁ctive search,鈥� a federal program to extend social welfare entitlements to the hardest-to-reach areas of Brazil. It marks the final frontier for听Bolsa Fam铆lia, a taxpayer-funded monthly stipend given to families in exchange for听sending kids to school听and getting them vaccinated 鈥撎齝alled a conditional cash transfer program. Over the past decade, it has helped raise 36 million Brazilians out of extreme poverty.

Success came with a price: Bolsa Fam铆lia cost taxpayers nearly $11 billion in 2013, with billions more going to other social programs.听That's made it a political flashpoint ahead of听Oct. 5听elections. President Dilma Rousseff's听Worker's Party has expanded benefits to her base of low-income voters, while challenger Aecio Neves has been put on the defensive with charges that he aims to trim government spending amid a cooling economy by reining in such efforts.听

Bolsa Fam铆lia has put so many听Brazilians on a path toward the middle class, however, that it's earned acceptance from most voters and leaders. Mr. Neves himself has praised the program, although he is unlikely to expand it through aggressive efforts such as Busca Ativa.听Indeed, a听听found that nearly three-fourths of voters want Bolsa Fam铆lia to continue, though Brazilians are split on whether the program should be expanded.

This has created an opening for Neves to attack President Rousseff for misusing government funds听amid slowing economic growth and rising inflation here. In fact, poverty alleviation doesn't rank among Brazilian voters' top听three听concerns: unemployment,听healthcare, and crime.

This means听the orange boats racing up the Amazon today may be contacting the last wave of Brazilians to be added to the welfare rolls for the near future. It also means that regardless of who takes office this fall, what was once seen as a radical social experiment to fight poverty in Brazil is positioned to at least remain a part of the nation's social safety net, even if it doesn't continue to grow in reach.听听

鈥淣o one will dare touch Bolsa Fam铆lia, it鈥檇 be political suicide,鈥澨齭ays Thiago de Arag茫o of Bras铆lia-based political advisory firm Arko Advice, who notes the amount of money spent on Bolsa Fam铆lia is small compared to Brazil鈥檚 $2.2 trillion GDP.听

'Give them power'

About听16 million Brazilians (8.5 percent of the population) live听in extreme poverty, defined as an income of less than 70 real ($31) per month, and a quarter of the population听lives in dwellings lacking access to sewage treatment.听

"We have the equivalent of Africa and Europe inside the same country," says Arag茫o, explaining why welfare programs are so important in Brazil even though it is the world's seventh-largest economy.听

Bolsa Fam铆lia supports 14 million households 鈥� about 50 million Brazilians 鈥� many in impoverished northern states such as Amazonas, where one-tenth of the 3.5 million residents receive welfare checks. Busca Ativa aims reach the poor before they ask for help. The federal government kicks in 4,500 real ($1,971) per month to each participating municipality to help pay for staff, plus 7,000 real ($3,065) for upkeep of the boats.

鈥淲e are trying to guarantee services to people who need [it],鈥� says Gra莽a Prola, the state鈥檚 top official on social-welfare programs. 鈥淚f we can bring them services, electricity or telephones, we can give them power.鈥�

On the hunt

During a recent expedition up the tea-colored Rio Negro, the largest tributary of the Amazon River, one of the boats travels some 20 miles to the village of Novo Sobrato. Stray dogs wander on the sun-scorched riverbank village, and vultures hover overhead. A diesel generator growls over the sounds of birds singing and provides power to color televisions rigged up in every stilted house.

Beneath the shade of an open-air school house, the social workers conduct interviews with about 30 villagers. They鈥檙e trying to update the federal government鈥檚 poverty data, which tracks changes in household income and size,听and also answer hundreds of questions from people like young mother Josiete Olemente Dos Santos.

Ms. Santos was qualified to receive Bolsa Fam铆lia eight years ago when she had her first of four children at the age of 14. But, she didn鈥檛 sign up until recently because she didn鈥檛 know how. She now receives 182 real per month ($80), which helps pay for basic items such as clothing and river transport to the nearest school an hour away from her home.

鈥淭he money has changed my life,鈥� says Santos. 鈥淣ow I know if I don鈥檛 sell enough听farofa [a local food] I still have some income.鈥�

Several hundred miles to the east on another Busca Ativa expedition,听Francisco Anderson de Brito leads a team听upriver in the municipality of Rio Preto da Eva, where he serves as local secretary of social welfare. He finds an island home where a family is standing in six inches of rising river water, and another dirt-floored home where an elderly couple is in need of medical attention.

鈥淭hese people don鈥檛 want to give up their lives, they don鈥檛 want to move to the populous cities,鈥� says Mr. Brito. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the state鈥檚 obligation to bring these services鈥�. It鈥檚 a way to give the people freedom.鈥澨�

During the interviews in听Novo Sobrato, someone mentions听Verissimo Bizerra Mesquita, the elderly blind man living an hour upriver. When the team finds him, he welcomes the听social workers up to his three-walled hut and explains how his vision and health have worsened. He never sought entitlements because he thought they were only for women.

The team promises Mr. Mesquita a medical visit and a regular welfare check, which he says will allow him to finish the fourth wall of his house. Determined to live out his days alone, deep in the rainforest, he heads back to his boat to draw up his net before a river dolphin steals his fish.听

鈥淓very trip is very different,鈥� says psychologist Clisjane Finicelli as the team's boat pulls away. 鈥淭his situation ... shows that you don鈥檛 need to patronize people, just assist them to get their rights.鈥�