Republican Congressman Mark Sanford confirmed Friday via social media that he and his Argentine fiancée of nearly two years, Maria Belen Chapur, have broken up.
The former South Carolina governor stated that the drama currently unfolding between him and his ex-wife, Jenny Sanford, put a heavy strain on his relationship with Chapur.
“No relationship can stand forever this tension of being forced to pick between the one you love and your own son or daughter, and for this reason Belen and I have decided to call off the engagement,” Sanford stated. “Maybe there will be another chapter when waters calm with Jenny, but at this point the environment is not conducive to building anything given no one would want to be caught in the middle of what’s now happening.”
Sanford made national headlines in 2009 after he publically admitted to cheating on his then wife with Chapur, a 43-year-old divorced mother of two living in Buenos Aires. The disgraced governor later referred to Chapur as his “soul mate” despite being married to Jenny Sanford, the mother of his four children, for more than 20 years.
Shortly after the affair, the state legislature censured Sanford and he eventually resigned as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Despite his fall from grace, the affair did not hurt Sanford’s political career. Last year, Sanford was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating the sister of famous comedian, Stephen Colbert.
Via Facebook Friday, Sanford spoke kindly of his ex-finacée, indicating that there could be a future between the two of them once tension with his ex-wife settled.
“Belen is a remarkably wonderful woman who I have always loved and I will be forever grateful for not only the many years we have known and loved each other, but the last six very tough ones wherein she has encouraged me and silently borne its tribulations with her ever warm and kind spirit,” Sanford added.
The divorce between Jenny and her ex-husband has gotten very ugly, playing out publically in the media. Sanford says he is facing “yet another lawsuit” by his ex-wife and he’s been summoned by her attorney to also appear in court this Monday.
“Jenny’s attorney’s newest summons asks that the visitation schedule be changed to limit my visitation with our youngest son Blake,” stated Sanford. “The question is how do you change what does not exist? There is no visitation schedule. She has full custody.”
About a week ago, Jenny Sanford demanded that her ex-husband undergo a psychiatric exam and take both anger management and parenting classes. In his social media post to his followers, Sanford addressed his ex-wife’s requests.
“As a public figure people have seen me over twenty years in the highs and lows and most trying of times, and if I was plagued by the afflictions they suggest, wouldn’t people have seen me mad or angry by now?” Sanford stated.
The congressman stated that he “can’t do this anymore” and plans to hire an attorney but would “instruct them not to fight back, to work to de-escalate and defuse and to look for measured justice and an end to controversy.”
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