Rep. Mark Sanford broke up with his girlfriend in a very long post on Facebook


Rep. Mark Sanford (R), the former governor of South Carolina, announced in a very long post on Facebook that he is breaking off his engagement with Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine woman at the heart of an extramarital affair that led to the highly public dissolution of Sanford's marriage in 2009.
Sanford suggested that his former wife, Jenny Sanford, was to blame for threatening lawsuits that had forced him to choose between his sons and his fiancée. "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," he wrote.
Sanford's affair was famously outed when he mysteriously disappeared from the governor's mansion for about a week in June of 2009. He later claimed to be hiking the Appalachian Trail, when in fact he had rendezvoused with Chapur in Buenos Aires. Sanford later tearfully declared that Chapur was his "soulmate."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.
-
China looms large over India and Pakistan’s latest violence
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Beijing may not have had troops on the ground. But as South Asia's two nuclear powers bared their teeth over Kashmir, China eyed opportunity in its own backyard
-
What's wrong with America's air traffic control systems?
Today's Big Question The radios and radar keep going out at Newark International
-
8 splashy items to elevate any pool party
The Week Recommends Fire up the snow cone machine, and turn on that outdoor movie projector
-
Amazon launches 1st Kuiper internet satellites
Speed Read The battle of billionaires continues in space
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years
Speed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers
-
TikTok's fate uncertain as weekend deadline looms
Speed Read The popular app is set to be banned in the U.S. starting Sunday
-
Appeals court kills FCC net neutrality rule
Speed Read A U.S. appeals court blocked Biden's effort to restore net-neutrality rules
-
Judge rejects Elon Musk's $56B pay package again
Speed Read Judge Kathaleen McCormick upheld her rejection of the Tesla CEO's unprecedented compensation deal
-
DOJ seeks breakup of Google, Chrome
Speed Read The Justice Department aims to force Google to sell off Chrome and make other changes to rectify its illegal search monopoly