Sanford Mistress, Maria Belen Chapur, Breaks Silence to Defend Other Beau

Maria Belen Chapur, the mistress of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, broke her silence Sunday in a letter to the Argentinian TV station CN5, where she was briefly a reporter. The station is the source of the only photo of her yet.

Oddly, after a week of hiding and biting her tongue, Chapur decided to speak out not to defend Sanford, herself, her privacy or her name, but to defend her ex-boyfriend, who has been accused of hacking into her email. Chapur referenced this man in her emails to Sanford as "a very nice guy, great heart ... but unfortunately I am not in love with him ... You are my love."

Chapur also emailed Sanford that "The guy is the one I told you, just three years younger than me, but I am not in love and won't fall in love with time so I have to continue my way ... be alone for some time and if I am lucky enough will someday feel towards somebody, what I today feel for you. At least you made me realized it can happen."

Whether it was a just a rumor or a conspiracy, legitimate news organizations like The New York Times ran with the hypothesis that this ex-boyfriend, angry at having been dumped for Sanford, leaked Maria's emails to The State newspaper in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. So, of all things, it was this accusation that her ex-boyfriend hacked her Hotmail account that made Chapur go public. The New York Times cites this from her open letter:

"I categorically deny that the individual who hacked my hotmail account was the one friend with whom I shared days in Brazil in the Rolex Regatta. This friend, as you could all well read in my recently published e-mails, is an excellent, respectable and honorable man incapable of making anything similar to that. Far away from being the author of this evil action he was instead another victim. In December 2008, the stolen e-mails were sent by the hacker to him as well as to the newspaper The State."

The State will not reveal the source of the emails between Chapur and the Republican governor, who used his personal email account. It seems that even Sanford wasn't jealous of her dating other men, as he said in one email: "I also don't want you walking away from some guy (I take it the younger guy you mentioned at dinner) because of me."

More questions in the Sanford Sex Scandal Saga:

Who is Mr. Rolex Regatta?

Why does Chapur break her silence to defend Mr. Rolex Regatta's honor but not Mark Sanford, the man she calls "my love" and "beloved"?

Who is the person she has a "strong suspicion" of hacking her email and doing "great damage directed specially to me, but at the same time destroying the life of so many others"?

Mysterious Maria: When do you give the exclusive interview and tell all?