Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was intent on reaching Oslo this week, hoping to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in person. Leaving her place of concealment and securing safe passage to Norway meant navigating military roadblocks, surviving hours on turbulent seas, and trusting that the small boats ferrying her to a Caribbean island would not be targeted by a US drone strike. A private aircraft awaited her there.

Although she arrived in Norway after the award ceremony had already taken place, the hazardous journey energized her followers and highlighted her continued influence after a year spent in hiding from President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Her escape also reinforced her role in the escalating confrontation between Caracas and Washington. New details surrounding the operation have revealed the involvement of a discreet rescue firm led by former US special operations and intelligence personnel, who coordinated the covert removal of one of Venezuela’s most prominent political figures without detection.

“We weren’t the first to attempt this,” said Bryan Stern, a combat veteran and head of Grey Bull Rescue. Based in Tampa, the organization was founded after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, and Machado’s extraction marked its 800th mission. Despite the team’s extensive experience evacuating clients from dangerous situations, this mission stood apart. “Our systems are built to move people nobody knows,” Stern explained. “Maria is very much known — and that was the real challenge.”