Brazil ? Brazil’s first working-class president was sworn in Monday to a second term, renewing his pledges to boost the nation’s lackluster economy and ease the deep divide between a rich elite and millions living in misery.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took the oath of office in Congress after riding to the ceremony in a classic Rolls-Royce convertible, according to inaugural protocol, but insisted he has not lost sight of his roots as the son of a dirt-poor farmer from Brazil’s impoverished northeast.

“One of my biggest commitments is that I never forget where I came from,” Silva told lawmakers in Brasilia’s futuristic congressional palace.

Silva, who became Brazil’s first elected leftist leader four years ago after gaining fame as a union leader resisting Brazil’s 1964-85 military dictatorship, said low-income workers in the nation of 187 million still have limited opportunities to better their lives.

But he said that he stabilized Brazil’s economy and protected it from boom-and-bust cycles, expanded a food program for the poor and set the stage for greater social justice.

Brazil “is better in distribution of wealth, access to education, health and housing,” Silva said. “We’ve done a lot in these areas, but we must do much more.”