The Argentinian woman who stole the heart of South Carolina’s two-timing Love Gov is a raven-haired television journalist who worked as a correspondent in New York City covering the aftermath of 9/11 before returning home to raise her two boys alone.
Maria Belen Chapur, a 43-year-old single mom known for her amazingly fit body and passion for marathons, was on the receiving end of disgraced Gov. Mark Sanford’s lusty e-mail missives, in which he longed for the “erotic beauty” of her tan lines.
Described by neighbors as a beautiful, brainy brunette with soulful eyes, Chapur was a no-show yesterday around her apartment complex in Palermo, one of Buenos Aires’ most exclusive neighborhoods.
Chapur, a former journalist and producer for “After Hours,” an Argentinian midnight news show, had a stint reporting from New York City after 9/11, according to the Argentine news site infobae.com.
“She is very low-profile but always surrounded herself by influential people,” a former co-worker told The Post.
Chapur, who is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, told The Associated Press in 2005 that she took up Chinese.
Sanford, a Republican, said he first met Chapur eight years ago as she was going through a rough patch in her marriage. He said he counseled her to stay with her husband for the sake of the children and the sacredness of matrimony.
She is now separated from her husband, a soybean exporter, according to media in Argentina.
A neighbor told The Post said he saw the governor and Chapur over the weekend. “He is very much in love with her. They were holding hands,” he said.
Another neighbor described her as utterly devoted to Sanford.
“She was doing this in secret, and she knew he was an important and married man,” she said.
Sanford had said that on his latest visit to Argentina, while his disappearance from South Carolina was a mystery, he was just “crying.”
Yesterday, a day after admitting his affair on national television, Sanford, 49, headed back his family’s beach house on Sullivan’s Island. He said he had reconciled with his jilted wife, Jenny, who had been holed up with the couple’s four boys.
“I’m fine, Jenny’s fine, the boys are fine,” Sanford said.
“Right now, I’m focused on the important part of this — the family in this circumstance.”
He said he was returning to the state Capitol to do a full day’s work today.
Jenny, who said the couple had been separated for some time, said yesterday, “I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time, if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance.”
Sanford said he’s “given no thought of resigning.”
He had been missing since last Thursday, with his aides incorrectly saying he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Additional reporting by Chuck Bennett in NY