Mark Sanford’s other Woman is Still a Mystery

June 30, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Various media outlets have identified South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s love interest as Maria Belen Chapur, but she still remains an enigma to many.  She is a 43-year-old, divorced mother of two teenage boys who has worked as a journalist and translator for the Argentine television station Canal America. She went to New York after the 9-11 attacks to report for the station.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Sanford admitted the affair and said that the woman with whom he had the relationship had two children. He revealed that he had met the woman eight years ago, and that their relationship turned romantic about a year ago.  The conference took place after Sanford disappeared from South Carolina; it was later revealed he went to Argentina to see Chapur.

The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., has published passionate e-mails between the governor and Chapur. The paper had possession of the e-mails for six months, but withheld publishing them until Sanford’s trip to Argentina became public.

Chapur is an intensely private woman who has successfully eluded the news media since Sanford revealed their affair. "I won't speak about my private life as it just belongs to me," she wrote to a friend. "It has already been made too public during these last days, bringing to me even more pain." She also said she has a "firm suspicion" about who broke into her email account and sent the incriminating e-mail messages to The State, although she does not believe it was an ex-boyfriend.

Friends and family have been protective of Chapur and relatively little is known about Sanford's "other woman."  Daughter of a wealthy family, she attended St. Catherine's Moorlands, a private school in Buenos Aires. After school, she married a grain exporter and they had two sons, now 15 and 19. Later, she graduated from the Catholic University of Argentina with a degree in political science and international relations. Chapur traveled the world learning English, French, Portuguese, and even Chinese.

Jenny Sanford has kicked her husband out of the family home, and says her top priority is her family, not her husband’s political career. She recently revealed that she has known of her husband’s affair since January when she found a love letter to Chapur.