Mark Sanford disappearance and extramarital affair
Encyclopedia
For six days in June 2009, South Carolina Governor
Mark Sanford
's whereabouts were unknown and there was media coverage of what was described as his disappearance. Subsequently the Governor reappeared and reported that he had been in Argentina with a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair. He stated that in 2001 he met and became friends with this woman and that they started having a sexual relationship in 2008. His wife became aware of the relationship in January 2009, and it was later revealed that two weeks prior to June 24 Sanford and his wife had begun a trial separation
. The woman was later identified as Maria Belén Chapur, an Argentine journalist.
. The couple met again at a New York bistro
in 2004. Two other meetings in New York occurred later; one with Sanford accompanied by a spiritual advisor with the knowledge of his wife. According to reports from Sanford, the two engaged in sexual relations in 2008 during an economic development trip Sanford made to Argentina.
.
Some South Carolina politicians voiced concerns about the governor's behavior. Lieutenant Governor
André Bauer
announced that he could not "take lightly that his staff has not had communication with him for more than four days, and that no one, including his own family, knows his whereabouts." The Senate Minority Leader, Democrat John Land
, also questioned the fact that Sanford was absent over the Father's Day
weekend, arguing that "it's one thing for the boys to go off by themselves, but on Father's Day to leave your family behind? That's erratic."
On June 23, spokesman Sawyer reported that Sanford had contacted his staff that morning—after apparently being out of touch with them for five days—and expressed surprise at all of the attention to his absence. Sawyer announced that the governor had decided to return to work the next day.
, at 5:43 am on Delta Air Lines
Flight 110 from Buenos Aires
, Argentina
. He was met at the airport by only one reporter, The States Gina Smith, who had received a tip that the governor was in Argentina and, on a "hunch", went to the Atlanta Airport to meet a flight arriving from Argentina. He gave her a brief sit-down interview, wherein he claimed that he was alone for the entire trip, and did not give any other details than that he drove the coastline. Sanford said that he had considered hiking the Appalachian trail, but at the last minute decided to do something "exotic". Sanford redeemed an award ticket on Delta Air Lines Skymiles frequent flyer program.
When asked why his staff said he was hiking, Sanford replied, "I don't know." He later said "in fairness to his staff," he had told them he might do such hiking. Sanford said he cut his trip short after his chief of staff, Scott English, told him his trip was gaining a lot of media attention and he needed to come back. These events prompted Republican state senator Jake Knotts
to comment, "Lies. Lies. Lies. That's all we get from his staff. That's all we get from his people. That's all we get from him."
Several hours after arriving back in the United States, Sanford held a press conference, where he admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife. He told reporters that he had developed a relationship with an Argentinian woman that he had met "a little over eight years ago, very innocently," and that the relationship had turned romantic about a year before. Jenny Sanford had been made aware of his infidelities in January 2009 after discovering a letter that Sanford had written to an Argentine woman.
In emotional interviews with the Associated Press
over two days, Mark Sanford said he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate." Sanford acknowledged secretly meeting Chapur five times in 2009, including two multi-night stays, one in New York City and one in the Hamptons
, paying expenses in cash to avoid detection. Sanford also said that he "crossed the lines" with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage, but not as far as he did with his mistress.
"There were a handful of instances wherein I crossed the lines I shouldn't have crossed as a married man, but never crossed the ultimate line," he said.
Sanford and his wife had sought marriage counseling. She said that she requested a trial separation
about two weeks before his disappearance. Governor Sanford also told reporters that months before his affair became public he had sought counsel at a controversial religious organization called The Family
, of which he became a member when he was a Representative in Washington, D.C. from 1995 to 2001. Two other leading Republican politicians who were members of The Family, Senator John Ensign
and former Congressman Chip Pickering
, also were caught engaging in extra-marital affairs around the same time frame as Governor Sanford.
, a Buenos Aires newspaper, identified the Argentinian woman as María Belén Chapur (also reported as Maria Belen Shapur), a 43-year-old divorced mother of two sons who speaks four languages: Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Chinese. She lives in the upscale district of Palermo, Buenos Aires
. The State published details of e-mails between Sanford and a woman only identified as "Maria". Chapur, in a statement made to C5N (in Buenos Aires), confirmed the relationship, but refused to discuss the matter in detail - pointing out that e-mails between her and Sanford made public days on June 24 were a result of having had her computer hacked. The Wall Street Journal (6/26/09 p. A3) notes that she has avoided contact with reporters despite local media interest in Argentina. In news conferences, Sanford has called Chapur his soulmate
.
As the affair was reported, more background information on Chapur was reported in the American press. Chapur received a political science degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina and had previously worked as a translator and correspondent
in 2001 for Canal América 2
, an Argentine television station, and filed television news reports for the station's New York City
bureau in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
In May 2010, several months after the conclusion of proceedings against Sanford, he visited Chapur in Florida with the intention of rekindling their relationship.
In August 2011, in an interview with the New York Times, Sanford was asked whether it was still the case that Chapur was his "soul mate". He responded, "I would say that I have more than well described all of my emotions and feelings toward Maria. And out of fairness to my boys and to folks that I’ve hurt, I’m not going to say more than this: any of those seemingly goofy feelings that I described a couple years back have intensified, not dissipated, with time." He also stated that "We see each other as we can."
.At the time, Sanford has not commented about the possibility of resigning his position as governor.
"Backroom political maneuvering may keep him in office another 18 months, but everyone knows his governorship, and likely any political future, is over," opined Dr. Benjamin Ladner in The State on July 2, 2009.
Sanford remained with his family on Thursday, June 25, 2009, at his beach home and was planning to return to work for cabinet meetings the next day. Mrs. Sanford and their children moved out of the governor's mansion on August 7, 2009, leaving Sanford behind.
Later, Sanford indicated he had no intention of resigning, even though some State officials and citizens alike called for his resignation. However, Sanford defended the legitimacy of his trip, organized by the South Carolina Department of Commerce, but said that he would reimburse the government for the Argentina part of a previous two country trip.
Nathan Ballentine
and Gary Simrill met with Sanford and warned him that the state legislature
would impeach
him if he did not resign. Ballentine, an ally of Sanford's, said afterward, "I told him the writing is on the wall. ...he could put an end to it all, but if he doesn't, members of the House will take things into their hands." Sanford declined to resign.
On August 28, The Washington Times
reported that Republican legislators in South Carolina were "laying plans" for a special legislative session
on whether to impeach Sanford. Two bills of impeachment were being prepared; they had bipartisan
support in the state legislature.
On October 23, two impeachment resolutions were introduced, but were blocked by Democrats in the South Carolina legislature. A month later, the resolution was successfully introduced and it was announced that an ad hoc committee would begin drafting articles of impeachment starting on November 24. Meanwhile, the Ethics Commission
formally charged the Governor with 37 violations.
On December 3, during its third public hearing on the matter, the ad hoc committee unanimously voted to drop the vast majority of charges from the investigation, saying that they did not warrant "overturning an election." On December 9, the committee voted 6-1 against impeachment. However, they did vote unanimously to censure the governor. On the 16th the full House Judiciary Committee voted 15-6 for censure, formally ending the process.
Among the reasons given for the decision not to remove Sanford from office included the fact that his governorship was going to expire in any event come January, 2011 (Sanford was term limit
ed and ineligible for re-election) and the fact that André Bauer
(the man who would have replaced him) was seen to be a rival to others with serious interest in obtaining the 2010 Republican nomination for governor.
(faces) together with Chapur at a Uruguayan resort Punta del Este
.
In August 2011, in an interview with the New York Times, Sanford was asked whether it was still the case that Chapur was his "soul mate". He responded, "I would say that I have more than well described all of my emotions and feelings toward Maria. And out of fairness to my boys and to folks that I’ve hurt, I’m not going to say more than this: any of those seemingly goofy feelings that I described a couple years back have intensified, not dissipated, with time."
Governor of South Carolina
The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...
Mark Sanford
Mark Sanford
Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. is an American politician from South Carolina, who was the 115th Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011....
's whereabouts were unknown and there was media coverage of what was described as his disappearance. Subsequently the Governor reappeared and reported that he had been in Argentina with a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair. He stated that in 2001 he met and became friends with this woman and that they started having a sexual relationship in 2008. His wife became aware of the relationship in January 2009, and it was later revealed that two weeks prior to June 24 Sanford and his wife had begun a trial separation
Trial separation
A trial separation is an informal splitting of a couple. Unlike legal separation, this is purely a personal arrangement and does not require legal proceedings...
. The woman was later identified as Maria Belén Chapur, an Argentine journalist.
Early history
The early history of the relationship between Chapur and Sanford was not publicly known until 2009. In 2001, Chapur and Sanford met at an open air dance in UruguayUruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. The couple met again at a New York bistro
Bistro
A bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. Home cooking with robust earthy dishes, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet are typical...
in 2004. Two other meetings in New York occurred later; one with Sanford accompanied by a spiritual advisor with the knowledge of his wife. According to reports from Sanford, the two engaged in sexual relations in 2008 during an economic development trip Sanford made to Argentina.
Disappearance
From June 18 until June 24, 2009, the whereabouts of Governor Sanford were unknown to the public, including his wife and State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for him. This six day disappearance garnered nationwide news coverage. His state and personal phones were turned off and he did not respond to phone or text messages. That prompted some to believe that he was missing and raised questions about who was acting as governor of South Carolina. His wife, Jenny Sanford, initially stated that she was not concerned and that he needed time away from their children to write something. Sanford has apparently made similar disappearances in the past, although this was the longest. After media speculation grew, Sanford's office on June 22 stated that he told them where he was going before he left and that he would be "difficult to reach." Later that day, Sanford's spokesman, Joel Sawyer, told the press that Sanford was hiking the Appalachian TrailAppalachian Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the AT, is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long...
.
Some South Carolina politicians voiced concerns about the governor's behavior. Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor (United States)
In the United States, 43 of the 50 states have a separate, full-time office of lieutenant governor. In most cases, the lieutenant governor is the highest officer of state after the governor, standing in for that officer when he or she is absent from the state or temporarily incapacitated...
André Bauer
André Bauer
Rudolph Andreas "André" Bauer was the 87th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party...
announced that he could not "take lightly that his staff has not had communication with him for more than four days, and that no one, including his own family, knows his whereabouts." The Senate Minority Leader, Democrat John Land
John C. Land III
John C. Land III is a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 36th District since 1976. Previously he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1975 through 1976....
, also questioned the fact that Sanford was absent over the Father's Day
Father's Day
Father's Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June but it is also celebrated widely on other days...
weekend, arguing that "it's one thing for the boys to go off by themselves, but on Father's Day to leave your family behind? That's erratic."
On June 23, spokesman Sawyer reported that Sanford had contacted his staff that morning—after apparently being out of touch with them for five days—and expressed surprise at all of the attention to his absence. Sawyer announced that the governor had decided to return to work the next day.
Extramarital affair disclosed
On June 24, Sanford arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International AirportHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport , known locally as Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport, and Hartsfield–Jackson, is located seven miles south of the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States...
, at 5:43 am on Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
Flight 110 from Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. He was met at the airport by only one reporter, The States Gina Smith, who had received a tip that the governor was in Argentina and, on a "hunch", went to the Atlanta Airport to meet a flight arriving from Argentina. He gave her a brief sit-down interview, wherein he claimed that he was alone for the entire trip, and did not give any other details than that he drove the coastline. Sanford said that he had considered hiking the Appalachian trail, but at the last minute decided to do something "exotic". Sanford redeemed an award ticket on Delta Air Lines Skymiles frequent flyer program.
When asked why his staff said he was hiking, Sanford replied, "I don't know." He later said "in fairness to his staff," he had told them he might do such hiking. Sanford said he cut his trip short after his chief of staff, Scott English, told him his trip was gaining a lot of media attention and he needed to come back. These events prompted Republican state senator Jake Knotts
John M. Knotts, Jr.
John M. "Jake" Knotts, Jr. is a Republican member of the South Carolina Senate, representing the 23rd District since 2002. Previously he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1994 through 2002.-Early life:...
to comment, "Lies. Lies. Lies. That's all we get from his staff. That's all we get from his people. That's all we get from him."
Several hours after arriving back in the United States, Sanford held a press conference, where he admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife. He told reporters that he had developed a relationship with an Argentinian woman that he had met "a little over eight years ago, very innocently," and that the relationship had turned romantic about a year before. Jenny Sanford had been made aware of his infidelities in January 2009 after discovering a letter that Sanford had written to an Argentine woman.
In emotional interviews with the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
over two days, Mark Sanford said he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate." Sanford acknowledged secretly meeting Chapur five times in 2009, including two multi-night stays, one in New York City and one in the Hamptons
Hamptons
The Hamptons may refer to several villages and hamlets in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on the far east end of Suffolk County in Long Island, New York. These townships occupy the South Fork of Long Island, stretching into the Atlantic Ocean. The Hamptons form a popular seaside resort,...
, paying expenses in cash to avoid detection. Sanford also said that he "crossed the lines" with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage, but not as far as he did with his mistress.
"There were a handful of instances wherein I crossed the lines I shouldn't have crossed as a married man, but never crossed the ultimate line," he said.
Sanford and his wife had sought marriage counseling. She said that she requested a trial separation
Trial separation
A trial separation is an informal splitting of a couple. Unlike legal separation, this is purely a personal arrangement and does not require legal proceedings...
about two weeks before his disappearance. Governor Sanford also told reporters that months before his affair became public he had sought counsel at a controversial religious organization called The Family
The Family (Christian political organization)
The Fellowship, also known as the Family, is a U.S.-based religious and political organization founded in 1935 by Abraham Vereide. The stated purpose of the Fellowship is to provide a fellowship forum for decision makers to share in Bible studies, prayer meetings, worship experiences and to...
, of which he became a member when he was a Representative in Washington, D.C. from 1995 to 2001. Two other leading Republican politicians who were members of The Family, Senator John Ensign
John Ensign
John Eric Ensign is a former United States Senator from Nevada, serving from January 2001 until he resigned amid an investigation of an ethics violation in May 2011...
and former Congressman Chip Pickering
Chip Pickering
"Charles Willis Pickering" redirects here. For this former congressman's father, see Charles W. Pickering.Charles Willis "Chip" Pickering, Jr. is a politician in the U.S. state of Mississippi. He represented as a Republican in the United States House of Representatives...
, also were caught engaging in extra-marital affairs around the same time frame as Governor Sanford.
María Belén Chapur
On June 25, La NaciónLa Nación
La Nación is an Argentine daily newspaper. The country's leading conservative paper, the centrist Clarín is its main competitor. It is the only newspaper in Argentina still published in broadsheet format.-Overview:...
, a Buenos Aires newspaper, identified the Argentinian woman as María Belén Chapur (also reported as Maria Belen Shapur), a 43-year-old divorced mother of two sons who speaks four languages: Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Chinese. She lives in the upscale district of Palermo, Buenos Aires
Palermo, Buenos Aires
Palermo is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is located in the northeast of the city, bordering the barrios of Belgrano to the north, Almagro and Recoleta to the south, Villa Crespo and Colegiales to the west and the Río de la Plata river to the east. With a total...
. The State published details of e-mails between Sanford and a woman only identified as "Maria". Chapur, in a statement made to C5N (in Buenos Aires), confirmed the relationship, but refused to discuss the matter in detail - pointing out that e-mails between her and Sanford made public days on June 24 were a result of having had her computer hacked. The Wall Street Journal (6/26/09 p. A3) notes that she has avoided contact with reporters despite local media interest in Argentina. In news conferences, Sanford has called Chapur his soulmate
Soulmate
A soulmate is believed by some to be the person with whom one has a feeling of deep or natural affinity, similarity, love, intimacy, sexuality, spirituality, or compatibility. A related concept is that of the twin flame or twin soul, which is thought to be the ultimate soulmate...
.
As the affair was reported, more background information on Chapur was reported in the American press. Chapur received a political science degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina and had previously worked as a translator and correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
in 2001 for Canal América 2
Canal 2 (Argentina)
América 2 is a national channel of Argentina, from La Plata that also broadcasts from Buenos Aires' Palermo neighbourhood. It was launched on June 25, 1966 as Rivadavia Televisión/TeVeDos, and in April 1991 the name changed to America. The bulk of programming of this channel can be found between...
, an Argentine television station, and filed television news reports for the station's New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
bureau in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
In May 2010, several months after the conclusion of proceedings against Sanford, he visited Chapur in Florida with the intention of rekindling their relationship.
In August 2011, in an interview with the New York Times, Sanford was asked whether it was still the case that Chapur was his "soul mate". He responded, "I would say that I have more than well described all of my emotions and feelings toward Maria. And out of fairness to my boys and to folks that I’ve hurt, I’m not going to say more than this: any of those seemingly goofy feelings that I described a couple years back have intensified, not dissipated, with time." He also stated that "We see each other as we can."
Immediate aftermath
Sanford resigned as Chairman of the Republican Governors AssociationRepublican Governors Association
The Republican Governors Association is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1963, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Republican Party.Its Democratic Party counterpart is the Democratic Governors Association...
.At the time, Sanford has not commented about the possibility of resigning his position as governor.
"Backroom political maneuvering may keep him in office another 18 months, but everyone knows his governorship, and likely any political future, is over," opined Dr. Benjamin Ladner in The State on July 2, 2009.
Sanford remained with his family on Thursday, June 25, 2009, at his beach home and was planning to return to work for cabinet meetings the next day. Mrs. Sanford and their children moved out of the governor's mansion on August 7, 2009, leaving Sanford behind.
Later, Sanford indicated he had no intention of resigning, even though some State officials and citizens alike called for his resignation. However, Sanford defended the legitimacy of his trip, organized by the South Carolina Department of Commerce, but said that he would reimburse the government for the Argentina part of a previous two country trip.
Impeachment proceedings and censure
On August 25, state representativesSouth Carolina House of Representatives
The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the upper house being the South Carolina Senate. It consists of 124 Representatives elected to two year terms at the same time as US Congressional elections...
Nathan Ballentine
Nathan Ballentine
Nathan Ballentine is a Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing the House District 71 since 2005.Nathan was born in Richland County and, for almost two decades, has chosen to work, live, and raise his family in the community named after his ancestors...
and Gary Simrill met with Sanford and warned him that the state legislature
South Carolina General Assembly
The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and the upper South Carolina Senate. Altogether, the General...
would impeach
Impeachment in the United States
Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office...
him if he did not resign. Ballentine, an ally of Sanford's, said afterward, "I told him the writing is on the wall. ...he could put an end to it all, but if he doesn't, members of the House will take things into their hands." Sanford declined to resign.
On August 28, The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
reported that Republican legislators in South Carolina were "laying plans" for a special legislative session
Special session
In a legislature, a special session is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year , such as outlining the government's budget for the next fiscal year, biennium, or other period...
on whether to impeach Sanford. Two bills of impeachment were being prepared; they had bipartisan
Bipartisanship
Bipartisanship is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system such as the United States, in which opposing political parties find common ground through compromise. The adjective bipartisan can refer to any bill, act, resolution, or other political act in which both of the...
support in the state legislature.
On October 23, two impeachment resolutions were introduced, but were blocked by Democrats in the South Carolina legislature. A month later, the resolution was successfully introduced and it was announced that an ad hoc committee would begin drafting articles of impeachment starting on November 24. Meanwhile, the Ethics Commission
Ethics Commission
In the United States, an Ethics Commission is a commission established by State law or county or city ordinance to investigate dishonest or unethical practices by public employees and elected officials....
formally charged the Governor with 37 violations.
On December 3, during its third public hearing on the matter, the ad hoc committee unanimously voted to drop the vast majority of charges from the investigation, saying that they did not warrant "overturning an election." On December 9, the committee voted 6-1 against impeachment. However, they did vote unanimously to censure the governor. On the 16th the full House Judiciary Committee voted 15-6 for censure, formally ending the process.
Among the reasons given for the decision not to remove Sanford from office included the fact that his governorship was going to expire in any event come January, 2011 (Sanford was term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
ed and ineligible for re-election) and the fact that André Bauer
André Bauer
Rudolph Andreas "André" Bauer was the 87th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party...
(the man who would have replaced him) was seen to be a rival to others with serious interest in obtaining the 2010 Republican nomination for governor.
Post governorship
After leaving office, Sanford was photographed in January 2011 by the Argentinian magazine CarasCaras
Caras may refer to:* Caraş River in Europe.* Caras, an indigenous tribe living in coastal Ecuador * Caras, a Brazilian gossip magazine.* Caras, a Portuguese gossip magazine.* Caras, an Argentine gossip magazine....
(faces) together with Chapur at a Uruguayan resort Punta del Este
Punta del Este
Punta del Este is a resort town on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. It is located on the intersection of Route 10 with Route 39, directly southeast of the department capital Maldonado and about east of Montevideo...
.
In August 2011, in an interview with the New York Times, Sanford was asked whether it was still the case that Chapur was his "soul mate". He responded, "I would say that I have more than well described all of my emotions and feelings toward Maria. And out of fairness to my boys and to folks that I’ve hurt, I’m not going to say more than this: any of those seemingly goofy feelings that I described a couple years back have intensified, not dissipated, with time."
External links
- Augusta Chronicle - Sanford calls Maria his "soulmate"
- Maria Belen Chapur: New Photos Of Sanford's Mistress - slideshow by The Huffington Post