"Priceless" artworks destroyed during Brazil riots 0:52
(CNN) --
Brazil's flag has a phrase etched in the middle of its star-studded blue globe: "Order and Progress."
It's the same flag that was omnipresent when supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the nation's capital.
Some used it as a cape while attacking government buildings, others used it as a towel to wipe off tear gas fired by security forces to contain the crowd.
The ideals of order and progress were replaced by disorder and chaos this Sunday.
The events that unfolded in Brasilia were shocking and terrifying, but not surprising.
For months, Bolsonaro's right-wing supporters have clung to the false belief that the October 30 runoff election was a robbery and that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did not win.
Why were the protests in Brazil so severe?
3:10
Bolsonaro himself has never publicly accepted the election results, left for the United States before Lula da Silva's inauguration on January 1, and has long cast doubt on the legitimacy of the electoral process and electronic voting machines. in the country.
The violent attack on the Brazilian government took months to prepare.
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“[Bolsonaro] has been stoking this for a long time, even before the elections.
But there are audits of the voting machines, audits also by independent reviewers that confirm that there was no possibility of theft," Christopher Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House in London, told CNN.
Bolsonaro condemned the riots this Sunday, but Sabatini argues that the former president also bears some responsibility for the violence.
"He can't just give his people the gasoline, the matches, point them to the house, and then claim the arson was not his fault," he said.
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The buildings in Brazil that suffered damage were the Congress, the Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace of Planalto, designed by the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer more than 60 years ago as a modernist utopia.
Inside, works of art of incalculable value were destroyed, such as the mural “As Mulatas” by the Brazilian artist Emiliano Di Cavalcanti and a 12th-century pendulum clock belonging to Balthazar Martinot —given by France to the Portuguese King João VI—.
The damage to works of art is incalculable, said Rogério Carvalho, curator of the Planalto Presidential Palace, and the same is true at the political level.
The cost of what was lost goes beyond the destroyed buildings and relics.
Sunday's attack on the seat of government was an attack on the democratic values with which Brazil proudly identifies.
Lolhé and Guelar spoke about the current situation in Brazil.
Lula da Silva and the leaders of Brazil's Congress, Senate and Supreme Court have signed a joint statement accusing the protesters of "terrorism and vandalism" and describing their behavior as "coup-mongering."
"The country needs normality, respect and work for progress and social justice," the statement said.
"We call on society to maintain serenity, in defense of peace and democracy in our nation."
But one of Lula da Silva's main challenges may be finding that unity with some factions of the Brazilian Armed Forces among which former President Jair Bolsonaro cultivated loyalty.
Many of Lula's allies have accused the military of being complicit with right-wing protesters and have called on the president to sack his new defense minister, José Múcio Monteiro.
The military has not responded to these accusations.
“President Lula has sought to project normality.
Of course, that is quite difficult because a lot of damage has been done to Congress and the Supreme Court," Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of International Relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo, told CNN.
“The big question is to what extent can Lula restore a relationship of trust with the Armed Forces;
a lot of people say that he may not be able to fully trust the security forces,” Stuenkel added.
Can Bolsonaro be extradited to Brazil?
0:54
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro could bear "political responsibility" for the attacks this Sunday, according to Justice Minister Flávio Dino, although he said that, so far, there are no legal grounds to investigate the former president in connection with the riots.
“Words have power and those words turned into hate, which turned into destruction… It is political responsibility because there are political leaders who are responsible for the hate speech and the destruction that we saw yesterday (Sunday) in the buildings of the three powers, aiming at a coup," Dino said during a press conference on Monday.
Still, some in the US and Brazil have already begun calling for the ex-leader's extradition to Brazil and are demanding answers from him for the disorder and chaos caused by Sunday's insurrection.
RiotsJair Bolsonaro