SC

Mark And Maria: Relationship Status?

Former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford is still engaged to his Latin lover and “soul mate,” Maria Belen Chapur. That’s according to sources close to the former governor, whose campaign is working feverishly to beat back a rumor that the couple’s engagement has been called off (or even worse … was never…

mark sanford and maria belen chapur

Former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford is still engaged to his Latin lover and “soul mate,” Maria Belen Chapur.

That’s according to sources close to the former governor, whose campaign is working feverishly to beat back a rumor that the couple’s engagement has been called off (or even worse … was never really on).

“He’s still engaged – and still in love,” one Sanford source told us.

And while a date for the wedding has yet to be set, the source said any suggestion that the pending nuptials had been called off was “bullshit” – and part of an effort to damage Sanford’s frontrunning congressional campaign.

According to Team Sanford, S.C. Rep. Andy Patrick (RINO-Beaufort) – who like Sanford is seeking the Republican nomination for South Carolina’s first congressional district seat – has been spreading the rumors about Sanford’s relationship with Chapur, referring to it as a “sham” intended to facilitate the former governor’s political comeback. FITS spoke with several sources who confirmed Patrick had raised doubts to them about the validity of the relationship.

Patrick is polling in the low single digits in the race, while Sanford has consistently led the field. However the two-term former chief executive – who represented the first district from 1995-2001 – faces a moment of truth in the GOP runoff election on April 2. There he could easily be defeated by one of several GOP candidates – S.C. Sen. Larry Grooms (R-Berkeley), Teddy Turner (son of liberal media mogul Ted Turner) or former Charleston County councilman Curtis Bostic.

Sanford and Chapur’s relationship has become the stuff of South Carolina political legend.

At a bizarre, rambling press conference at the S.C. State House in 2009, Sanford admitted being unfaithful to his wife and lying to his family, his staff and the citizens of South Carolina. Days later, just when it appeared the scandal had died down, Sanford granted an ill-fated interview with the Associated Press in which he called Chapur his “soul mate,” admitted “crossing lines” with other women.

At that point his wife, Jenny Sanford, publicly exited the governor’s mansion and divorced him – turning the role of scorned spouse into a cottage industry in the process. Sanford was also very nearly impeached after it was revealed that his Commerce Department spent tax dollars on a South American “economic development” trip during which he visited Chapur.

***

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62 comments

CNSYD March 14, 2013 at 8:39 am

Will the new “Argentine” Pope perform their wedding ceremony?

Reply
Smirks March 14, 2013 at 10:30 am

Only if he’ll let one of the pigs he brought to the State House be the ring bearer.

Reply
Scott English Tweet March 14, 2013 at 2:59 pm

“The former chief of staff to South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who was censured by
his state legislature in 2009 after admitting an affair with an Argentine woman,
joked on Twitter that “nobody complains when the College of Cardinals goes to
Argentina.””

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/other-news/287979-former-sanford-aide-cracks-argentina-joke-after-papal-election#ixzz2NXfVwpGP

Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

Reply
CNSYD March 14, 2013 at 8:39 am

Will the new “Argentine” Pope perform their wedding ceremony?

Reply
Smirks March 14, 2013 at 10:30 am

Only if he’ll let one of the pigs he brought to the State House be the ring bearer.

Reply
Scott English Tweet March 14, 2013 at 2:59 pm

“The former chief of staff to South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who was censured by
his state legislature in 2009 after admitting an affair with an Argentine woman,
joked on Twitter that “nobody complains when the College of Cardinals goes to
Argentina.””

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/twitter-room/other-news/287979-former-sanford-aide-cracks-argentina-joke-after-papal-election#ixzz2NXfVwpGP

Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

Reply
Carrie March 14, 2013 at 9:35 am

How could he ask Jenny to be his campaign manager if he was still planning to marry MBC? Did he get her approval to ask his ex-wife? Did he not realize that it would have hurt Jenny to rehash those bad memories? It has been stated that only one of the boys have met MBC, why only one and not all of them? Why is he so afraid of bringing her out in the open or is being so protective of her? Or possibly that this is all her doing for whatever reasons.
Actually I don’t think anyone cares what they do and would prefer that they stop playing hide and seek games with the public.

Reply
Carrie March 14, 2013 at 9:35 am

How could he ask Jenny to be his campaign manager if he was still planning to marry MBC? Did he get her approval to ask his ex-wife? Did he not realize that it would have hurt Jenny to rehash those bad memories? It has been stated that only one of the boys have met MBC, why only one and not all of them? Why is he so afraid of bringing her out in the open or is being so protective of her? Or possibly that this is all her doing for whatever reasons.
Actually I don’t think anyone cares what they do and would prefer that they stop playing hide and seek games with the public.

Reply
BigT March 14, 2013 at 10:46 am

Looks like the marriage question is Killing Sanford in the polls.
And this is just FITS trying Damage Control..
If this were Andre Bauer, FITS would be questioning his sexuality. If it were Haley, he’d be charging infidelity as the problem.
I don’t care that FITS is a hack (and a very poor one)…but his level of dishonesty is BAD for politics (and the people) in this state.
Too many liars in office. Don’t need anymore media lying about who and what it is…

Reply
SC Soap Opera March 14, 2013 at 11:11 am

If the “marriage question” is killing him in the polls, he and Maria will use their standard M.O. and have the press take some recent “candid” shots of them together. Probably entering a church or such where it will be speculated they are receiving pre-marriage counseling! For sure she will show on election night, or that would be very queer indeed!

Reply
BigT March 14, 2013 at 11:38 am

Maybe Sanford got caught by Maria “Crossing the Line” w/ other women.
If he cheated repeatedly on the mother of his children, what makes anyone think he’s going to be faithful to the latest “crossed-line”…
The Best PR face Sanford can muster is that he found the Love of his Life on the App-Tail-Trail…but his public nightmare continues if his impassioned (Jimmy Swaggert-like) pleas for forgivenemss were just as Fake as his mariage and concern for his kids was.

Reply
BigT March 14, 2013 at 10:46 am

Looks like the marriage question is Killing Sanford in the polls.
And this is just FITS trying Damage Control..
If this were Andre Bauer, FITS would be questioning his sexuality. If it were Haley, he’d be charging infidelity as the problem.
I don’t care that FITS is a hack (and a very poor one)…but his level of dishonesty is BAD for politics (and the people) in this state.
Too many liars in office. Don’t need anymore media lying about who and what it is…

Reply
SC Soap Opera March 14, 2013 at 11:11 am

If the “marriage question” is killing him in the polls, he and Maria will use their standard M.O. and have the press take some recent “candid” shots of them together. Probably entering a church or such where it will be speculated they are receiving pre-marriage counseling! For sure she will show on election night, or that would be very queer indeed!

Reply
BigT March 14, 2013 at 11:38 am

Maybe Sanford got caught by Maria “Crossing the Line” w/ other women.
If he cheated repeatedly on the mother of his children, what makes anyone think he’s going to be faithful to the latest “crossed-line”…
The Best PR face Sanford can muster is that he found the Love of his Life on the App-Tail-Trail…but his public nightmare continues if his impassioned (Jimmy Swaggert-like) pleas for forgivenemss were just as Fake as his mariage and concern for his kids was.

Reply
Pure speculation March 14, 2013 at 10:53 am

Chapur works for, or at least submits columns to Infobae.com a Daniel Hadad international media enterprise. Recently, her opinion pieces have popped up on the web. What she had been doing prior to this, who knows? At one point, Business Insider said she was a Commodities Broker??? Maybe a gag order was in place in Argentina or she was unemployed and keeping a low profile due to the scandal. Her small bio with her column states she lives in Argentina and the US (It does not list her credential as one of the TOP 10 mistresses as per TIme Mag, hah!) It seems to me that she and Sanford are just moving along the relationship continuum that really heated up in 2008, surfacing now to get on with their lives for the grand finale of probable marriage. My guess is that a) she doesn’t feel in her element as a potential congressman’s wife in “provincial and puritanical” SC where her reception might be in question b) she would be in Jenny territory c) Sanford has decided not to abuse and use this relationship as he did his first marriage, and is being more protective. d) all of the above and should we give a rat’s patoot?

But, the voters should question how much time Sanford will even spend in SC-1? Does he own property in Argentina? How much time will he be spending there since his future wife is still a resident there and he could have financial dealings there himself. If his future wife is uncomfortable in SC, will the bulk of the rest of their time be in DC if he were to win? He likely still has higher office aspirations and Chapur in the long run, probably prefers the cosmopolitan, international, and cultural aspects of DC over a backwater.

Why Sanford would ask his former wife to run his campaign? Because he is an unempathetic, clueless narcissist!

Reply
let me guess,let me guess March 14, 2013 at 11:18 am

There’s a bar in DC that flashes pictures of political mistresses on a screen and you have to match them up with the politician……..Never misses are Rielle Hunter and Maria Belen Chapur………..Charleston doesn’t want her and she’s a bar game in DC.

Reply
Pure Speculation March 14, 2013 at 12:03 pm

Hah! So funny (not for Chapur, gulp) If only current and future generations could learn from this everyman parable, but evidence shows through the millennia that will never be the case. Karma truly is a ——. Or as Jenny was quoted as saying, “You can choose your sin, but you can’t choose your consequences.”

Reply
bogart March 14, 2013 at 12:41 pm

There was also a list of the top 50 best looking mistresses…..Hunter was 46 and Chapur was 49….Total insult to anyone beaten out by Hunter.

Reply
She made the list! March 14, 2013 at 1:29 pm

In the early days of the scandal, one of the blogs/commentaries stated she had the look of a tranny…not very nice to repeat – but it seemed to me to be the motivation for some of the less modest shots of her at the beach, and then later the engagement photo spread with some glam shots included.

Need glasses maybe? March 14, 2013 at 3:06 pm

Did the same photographer take the above picture and the beach pictures? It looks like there were two different women posing with Sanford. This woman looks very matronly and beautiful while the one on the beach looked skinny and long legged.

TMI March 14, 2013 at 3:26 pm

maybe premenstrual or menopausal bloating

thong sandpaper March 14, 2013 at 4:31 pm

Long legged????? I just saw a woman on her knees.

carrie March 14, 2013 at 11:22 am

Very good post!

Reply
carrie March 14, 2013 at 11:25 am

Infobae.com was started by Hadad. He sold it to a very wealthy businessman for $40 million last year. So who is MBC working for now?

Reply
Pure speculation March 14, 2013 at 10:53 am

Chapur works for, or at least submits columns to Infobae.com a Daniel Hadad international media enterprise. Recently, her opinion pieces have popped up on the web. What she had been doing prior to this, who knows? At one point, Business Insider said she was a Commodities Broker??? Maybe a gag order was in place in Argentina or she was unemployed and keeping a low profile due to the scandal. Her small bio with her column states she lives in Argentina and the US (It does not list her credential as one of the TOP 10 mistresses as per TIme Mag, hah!) It seems to me that she and Sanford are just moving along the relationship continuum that really heated up in 2008, surfacing now to get on with their lives for the grand finale of probable marriage. My guess is that a) she doesn’t feel in her element as a potential congressman’s wife in “provincial and puritanical” SC where her reception might be in question b) she would be in Jenny territory c) Sanford has decided not to abuse and use this relationship as he did his first marriage, and is being more protective. d) all of the above and should we give a rat’s patoot?

But, the voters should question how much time Sanford will even spend in SC-1? Does he own property in Argentina? How much time will he be spending there since his future wife is still a resident there and he could have financial dealings there himself. If his future wife is uncomfortable in SC, will the bulk of the rest of their time be in DC if he were to win? He likely still has higher office aspirations and Chapur in the long run, probably prefers the cosmopolitan, international, and cultural aspects of DC over a backwater.

Why Sanford would ask his former wife to run his campaign? Because he is an unempathetic, clueless narcissist!

Reply
let me guess,let me guess March 14, 2013 at 11:18 am

There’s a bar in DC that flashes pictures of political mistresses on a screen and you have to match them up with the politician……..Never misses are Rielle Hunter and Maria Belen Chapur………..Charleston doesn’t want her and she’s a bar game in DC.

Reply
Pure Speculation March 14, 2013 at 12:03 pm

Hah! So funny (not for Chapur, gulp) If only current and future generations could learn from this everyman parable, but evidence shows through the millennia that will never be the case. Karma truly is a ——. Or as Jenny was quoted as saying, “You can choose your sin, but you can’t choose your consequences.”

Reply
bogart March 14, 2013 at 12:41 pm

There was also a list of the top 50 best looking mistresses…..Hunter was 46 and Chapur was 49….Total insult to anyone beaten out by Hunter.

Reply
She made the list! March 14, 2013 at 1:29 pm

In the early days of the scandal, one of the blogs/commentaries stated she had the look of a tranny…not very nice to repeat – but it seemed to me to be the motivation for some of the less modest shots of her at the beach, and then later the engagement photo spread with some glam shots included.

Need glasses maybe? March 14, 2013 at 3:06 pm

Did the same photographer take the above picture and the beach pictures? It looks like there were two different women posing with Sanford. This woman looks very matronly and beautiful while the one on the beach looked skinny and long legged.

TMI March 14, 2013 at 3:26 pm

maybe premenstrual or menopausal bloating

thong sandpaper March 14, 2013 at 4:31 pm

Long legged????? I just saw a woman on her knees.

carrie March 14, 2013 at 11:22 am

Very good post!

Reply
carrie March 14, 2013 at 11:25 am

Infobae.com was started by Hadad. He sold it to a very wealthy businessman for $40 million last year. So who is MBC working for now?

Reply
at the end of the day March 14, 2013 at 11:00 am

So if Sanford makes it back to Congress will he be heading to Argentina every Thursday when his work week ends? I don’t see two maghificent parts being happy on the farm and she would never be welcome in Charleston.

Reply
at the end of the day March 14, 2013 at 11:00 am

So if Sanford makes it back to Congress will he be heading to Argentina every Thursday when his work week ends? I don’t see two maghificent parts being happy on the farm and she would never be welcome in Charleston.

Reply
hoss March 14, 2013 at 11:47 am

Is it true Colbert Bush’s ex was on the America’s Most Wanted list?
Where can I get more info about that story. Google and find nothing.
Is it being ‘covered up’?

Reply
ufo spotted March 14, 2013 at 2:56 pm

It’s a conspiracy I tell you,a conspiracy,we’ve got to get to the bottom of this before it eats us alive…..Lord help us all.

Reply
hoss March 14, 2013 at 11:47 am

Is it true Colbert Bush’s ex was on the America’s Most Wanted list?
Where can I get more info about that story. Google and find nothing.
Is it being ‘covered up’?

Reply
ufo spotted March 14, 2013 at 2:56 pm

It’s a conspiracy I tell you,a conspiracy,we’ve got to get to the bottom of this before it eats us alive…..Lord help us all.

Reply
Philip Branton March 14, 2013 at 12:27 pm

WOW……what a Larry “Big OIL Fumes” Grooms hit piece…!!

Dear Informational Cadets……..this is a prime example of how rather smart and bold comment “hounds” are used to bark up a tree. Take Big (T) for example…….does he understand how neither Mark Sanford or Larry Grooms nor Mrs. Colbert-Busch have said squat about any specific issues they will address if they are sworn into this congressional seat…?? Just think Cadets, what monthly bills do Big(T) and Wil Folks and every taxpayer in our state have in common on a monthly basis..? Electric..?? Trash pick-up..?? Foreign Gas…?? How are these bills used to effect the WAR effort…!? We all know the Big (T) takes winning seriously..!! Does the marriage question that is “Killing” Sanford in the Polls have anything to do with help Big (T) pay his monthly BILLS…!? How about Wil Folks.?

Cadets….it is blatantly obvious that Wil Folks needs more advertisers for his website…!! We hope his wife tells him this every night…!!! “Honey, where is the advertising beef sponsoring this great article…?”

Cadets….carefully review the article database for this website and compare it to each and every candidate. Which candidate is getting LESS coverage.?? Do your comparisons with every newspaper publisher in our state. How could voters use this in a class action lawsuit..??

Reply
Conspiracy afoot!?! March 14, 2013 at 1:19 pm

Of course we know we are being used. This is all a distraction. The candidates and their handlers use our comments (maybe) to temper or change their message and public actions. The voters of SC-1 are being used by Sanford to re-enter politics as a springboard for his ego-driven feelings of entitled advancement. The other candidates for the most part, likewise. And Sic probably loves the hits he gets with any Sanford story.

But by expressing our distaste for their antics, there is hope that an effective and credible candidate will come forth who will be capable of confronting the issues of electric, trash pick-up, foreign gas, etc….

Reply
Philip Branton March 14, 2013 at 12:27 pm

WOW……what a Larry “Big OIL Fumes” Grooms hit piece…!!

Dear Informational Cadets……..this is a prime example of how rather smart and bold comment “hounds” are used to bark up a tree. Take Big (T) for example…….does he understand how neither Mark Sanford or Larry Grooms nor Mrs. Colbert-Busch have said squat about any specific issues they will address if they are sworn into this congressional seat…?? Just think Cadets, what monthly bills do Big(T) and Wil Folks and every taxpayer in our state have in common on a monthly basis..? Electric..?? Trash pick-up..?? Foreign Gas…?? How are these bills used to effect the WAR effort…!? We all know the Big (T) takes winning seriously..!! Does the marriage question that is “Killing” Sanford in the Polls have anything to do with help Big (T) pay his monthly BILLS…!? How about Wil Folks.?

Cadets….it is blatantly obvious that Wil Folks needs more advertisers for his website…!! We hope his wife tells him this every night…!!! “Honey, where is the advertising beef sponsoring this great article…?”

Cadets….carefully review the article database for this website and compare it to each and every candidate. Which candidate is getting LESS coverage.?? Do your comparisons with every newspaper publisher in our state. How could voters use this in a class action lawsuit..??

Reply
Conspiracy afoot!?! March 14, 2013 at 1:19 pm

Of course we know we are being used. This is all a distraction. The candidates and their handlers use our comments (maybe) to temper or change their message and public actions. The voters of SC-1 are being used by Sanford to re-enter politics as a springboard for his ego-driven feelings of entitled advancement. The other candidates for the most part, likewise. And Sic probably loves the hits he gets with any Sanford story.

But by expressing our distaste for their antics, there is hope that an effective and credible candidate will come forth who will be capable of confronting the issues of electric, trash pick-up, foreign gas, etc….

Reply
You know me March 14, 2013 at 1:02 pm

My friend said Chapur does not like SC and finds people here to be backward.

Reply
so speculation not March 14, 2013 at 1:21 pm

…one might wonder then her attraction for Sanford,,,,

Reply
blind March 14, 2013 at 2:59 pm

Wondered that from the beginning.Figured she was just anal.

Reply
TMI again! March 14, 2013 at 3:28 pm

Hah!

Reply
You know me March 14, 2013 at 1:02 pm

My friend said Chapur does not like SC and finds people here to be backward.

Reply
so speculation not March 14, 2013 at 1:21 pm

…one might wonder then her attraction for Sanford,,,,

Reply
blind March 14, 2013 at 2:59 pm

Wondered that from the beginning.Figured she was just anal.

Reply
TMI again! March 14, 2013 at 3:28 pm

Hah!

Reply
Philip Claxton March 14, 2013 at 3:12 pm

His claim that he’ll marry MBC in the late summer is as believeable as his Appalachian trail claim. He’s divorced, and a second marriage events are intentionally low key. He could have done it already in a private ceremony. This makes me more suspicious about Sanford and his motives. I don’t trust anything he says and can’t figure him out.

Reply
Puzzled March 14, 2013 at 3:44 pm

Kinda agree with you. Belen’s new title (after being e-mail friend, Latin Lover,mistress girlfriend, and fiancee) is now “The Invisible Fiancee”.

Reply
Philip Claxton March 14, 2013 at 3:12 pm

His claim that he’ll marry MBC in the late summer is as believeable as his Appalachian trail claim. He’s divorced, and a second marriage events are intentionally low key. He could have done it already in a private ceremony. This makes me more suspicious about Sanford and his motives. I don’t trust anything he says and can’t figure him out.

Reply
Puzzled March 14, 2013 at 3:44 pm

Kinda agree with you. Belen’s new title (after being e-mail friend, Latin Lover,mistress girlfriend, and fiancee) is now “The Invisible Fiancee”.

Reply
General Mace March 15, 2013 at 10:36 am

Funny how Fits plugs Larry Grooms in every article…seeing as how he hasn’t been in the top five the past month and a half…Grooms funneling all that evangelical money to Mace. Pathetic

Reply
General Mace March 15, 2013 at 10:36 am

Funny how Fits plugs Larry Grooms in every article…seeing as how he hasn’t been in the top five the past month and a half…Grooms funneling all that evangelical money to Mace. Pathetic

Reply
NotBuyingIt March 16, 2013 at 1:34 pm

i felt he embarrassed himself in not praising his wife (and The Mother of his 4 Sons!)…he made us all feel it was so wrong not to honor his partner of many years, without whom he would not have been anything more than a private businessman trying to make a good living for himself and his immediate family. he made himself look like a cad who maybe wasn’t capable of loving anyone responsibly or well. those of us who had been so impressed with the image of the handsome Congressman with the beautiful family were shocked to see that it was…just an image for him, a reality for Jenny Sanford, who has been a model of openness and honesty while still maintaining more dignity for herself and her family than most of us could muster. i admire how she treated the father of her sons because it was the only saving grace in the whole unnecessary crisis and aftermath.

Reply
NotBuyingIt March 16, 2013 at 1:34 pm

i felt he embarrassed himself in not praising his wife (and The Mother of his 4 Sons!)…he made us all feel it was so wrong not to honor his partner of many years, without whom he would not have been anything more than a private businessman trying to make a good living for himself and his immediate family. he made himself look like a cad who maybe wasn’t capable of loving anyone responsibly or well. those of us who had been so impressed with the image of the handsome Congressman with the beautiful family were shocked to see that it was…just an image for him, a reality for Jenny Sanford, who has been a model of openness and honesty while still maintaining more dignity for herself and her family than most of us could muster. i admire how she treated the father of her sons because it was the only saving grace in the whole unnecessary crisis and aftermath.

Reply
NotBuyingIt March 16, 2013 at 1:40 pm

wow…reading the comments on this story [referring to the App-Tail-Trail?!] ~ there is no way SC or anywhere in America can stand a public figure who has made himself a laughingstock, even 3 years later. what hubris to imagine that your state should give you another chance to go off the rails and embarrass a nation with yet another adulterous scandal, denigrating your well-respected wife who just naturally seemed to take the High Road no matter what?! there is nothing mark sanford can do to diminish how sick and sad he made a whole state feel as they watched their Governor act like the worst jerk in recent memory…these comments are brutal in their truthfulness.

Reply
NotBuyingIt March 16, 2013 at 1:40 pm

wow…reading the comments on this story [referring to the App-Tail-Trail?!] ~ there is no way SC or anywhere in America can stand a public figure who has made himself a laughingstock, even 3 years later. what hubris to imagine that your state should give you another chance to go off the rails and embarrass a nation with yet another adulterous scandal, denigrating your well-respected wife who just naturally seemed to take the High Road no matter what?! there is nothing mark sanford can do to diminish how sick and sad he made a whole state feel as they watched their Governor act like the worst jerk in recent memory…these comments are brutal in their truthfulness.

Reply

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