Dramatic rescue gets Venezuelan leader Machado to Norway for Nobel Prize

The rescue operation to retrieve Venezuelan opposition chief María Corina Machado and transport her to Norway in time to obtain her Nobel Peace Prize concerned a fancy collection of problems and a number of other parts, on land, sea and within the air.

The mission, referred to as Operation Golden Dynamite, was led by Bryan Stern, a U.S. particular forces veteran and founding father of the Tampa-based Grey Bull Rescue Basis, which focuses on high-risk rescue missions and evacuations, notably from battle and catastrophe areas.

Getting her out of Venezuela, the place she is taken into account a fugitive by President Nicolás Maduro, required disguises, deception, navigating tough seas and arranging flight choices.

“She is considered by the Maduro regime as we considered Osama bin Laden,” Stern informed Fox Information. “That stage of manhunt, if you’ll.”

US secret workforce chief describes ‘harmful’ mission to rescue Venezuelan opposition chief

Venezuelan opposition chief Maria Corina Machado gestures at a protest forward of Friday’s inauguration of President Nicolás Maduro for his third time period, in Caracas, Venezuela, January 9, 2025. (Maxwell Briceno/Reuters)

Machado has been hiding in Venezuela since Maduro received a extremely controversial election final yr and had not been seen in public for months.

Stern emphasised that the US authorities was not concerned within the operation.

His workforce had constructed up a presence within the Caribbean, Venezuela and the neighboring island of Aruba in preparation for operations within the South American area.

The most important problem, Stern stated, was getting Machado in a foreign country, despite the fact that she was a widely known determine there. To get her from her dwelling to a “touchdown web site on the seaside,” his workforce reportedly did “all types of issues designed to trigger slightly confusion.”

“Every thing we might consider that we thought might cover her face… was used.” Stern stated. “Every thing we might consider, her digital signature, her bodily signature. As well as, we have now carried out quite a lot of deception operations on the bottom. We made some noise in some locations to make folks assume one thing was occurring that wasn’t occurring.”

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Venezuelan chief Nicolás Maduro brandishes a sword stated to have belonged to independence hero Simon Bolivar throughout a civil-military occasion on the army academy in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, November 25, 2025. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Picture)

The maritime operation bought off to a tough begin, Stern stated. Of the 2 boats deployed for the mission, the vessel that bodily retrieved Machado reportedly misplaced its GPS within the turbulent seas and suffered a mechanical failure that delayed the operation. The workforce was compelled to proceed into the lifeless of night time in “pitch black darkness,” navigating seas so violent that certainly one of Stern’s veteran operators reportedly vomited for 9 hours.

Reaching the assembly level added one other stage of problem. Stern’s boat and Machado’s ship needed to discover one another in pitch-black seas whereas sustaining radio silence to keep away from detection, finally finding one another with a flashlight.

Stern stated he needed to stay cautious, fearing that the approaching boat might have been a lure by Venezuelan forces. To substantiate it was protected to proceed, his bigger ship circled Machado’s boat and shone lights on the crew.

After Stern bodily pulled Machado onto his boat, he warned the remainder of the workforce that Machado had been secured: “Jackpot, jackpot, jackpot.”

“Now we’re on the run with Maria Corina Machado, essentially the most needed lady within the Western Hemisphere, on my boat,” he stated.

“I’ve essentially the most needed individual within the Western Hemisphere that I am making an attempt to maneuver,” Stern stated. ‘Personally, she is a hero of mine. She’s a hero of mine. I have been following her for years.’

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Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado waves on the Grand Resort in Oslo, Norway early Thursday, December 11, 2025. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix through AP)

As soon as in worldwide waters, the brand new concern prevented any look that that they had kidnapped a Venezuelan, which might have given the federal government any justification to assault.

‘They lie. They might have killed us for any purpose,” Stern stated. “We’re in the course of the ocean and there is no one round to see the reality… we’re scared, we’re nervous, we’re on the run and we’re making an enormous deal out of attending to the appointment.”

Stern ordered his boat captain to drive full throttle and never cease for something, for worry of being chased by the Venezuelan regime.

“My boatman, I informed him I do not care, I do not care who comes,” Stern stated. ‘You do not cease. You do not cease. I do not care, I do not care who. You do not cease in any respect. Allow them to chase us in the event that they must. Now we have to get to land.’

At one level in the course of the escape, two F-18 fighter jets reportedly flew overhead. Stern described the second as a possible complication as a result of they might not decide whether or not the jets had been hostile or pleasant, though he famous that this was seemingly not a part of the Navy’s coordination.

“There’s an plane service within the Caribbean that drops planes each twenty minutes. I do not know,” Stern stated. “I can let you know that nobody within the Navy stated, ‘Don’t fret, brother, we despatched two F-18s to cowl you.'”

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The maritime workforce efficiently introduced Machado to security. Stern stated his workforce had additionally ready for a doable air extraction, however that plan was deserted after a last-minute change on Machado’s half. As an alternative, the ultimate flight to Norway was organized by her private community utilizing a pal’s personal jet, culminating in her protected arrival.

Whereas Grey Bull Rescue has performed operations in high-threat areas akin to Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Haiti, Stern stated Machado’s extraction was a singular problem, describing it as “overwhelmingly” essentially the most sophisticated mission within the group’s 800-mission historical past.