Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado spent hours adrift in the Caribbean before being located by a private team that coordinated her departure from the country. The operation, reconstructed by The Wall Street Journal, was marked by technical failures, bad weather and security risks. The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner said this Friday that she feared for her life
The departure from Venezuela of María Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, included one of the most dangerous sections of the entire operation: several hours without communication, adrift in Caribbean waters, before being located by a private extraction team.
The story was reconstructed by The Wall Street Journalbased on direct testimonies from the head of the operation, Bryan Stern, and another person familiar with the mission, as well as messages, photos and videos with time stamps reviewed by the American media.
According to the newspaper, Machado was traveling in a small fishing boat when the GPS fell into the sea in the middle of the waves and the backup system also failed. For nearly three hours, she and a small group were disoriented in the Gulf of Venezuela, unable to reach the meeting point previously agreed upon with the team that was to pick her up.
The operation was completed during the early hours of Tuesday, when two boats finally managed to find themselves in the open sea, under intense rain and waves of up to three meters. In a proof of life video that the Journal could see, Machado states: «My name is María Corina Machado. “I am alive, safe and very grateful.” The material was sent to US authorities at the time it was recorded.
Stern, a former US military man who leads the private organization Gray Bull, told the newspaper that, after putting her on a larger boat, he gave her dry clothing, food and drinks, and notified his team with a confirmation message. The mission was baptized internally as “Operation Golden Dynamite”, in reference to the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Alfred Nobel.
According to the reconstruction of JournalMachado’s departure took almost three days. First he moved by land from a suburb of Caracas to a coastal town; Then he crossed by sea to Curacao, a journey that lasted about 12 hours. From there she boarded a private jet that took her to Oslo. It came after the official Nobel ceremony, so the prize was received by his daughter.
The American media points out that the operation was financed by private donors and did not use funds from the United States Government. However, US officials, including senior military commanders, followed the operation in real time through messages and voice notesalways according to the version offered by Stern.
In Oslo, this Friday, Machado did not want to give or confirm details about the operation but he did talk about his experience. «I can tell you that they were very intense hours, where there were moments when I felt that there was a real risk for my life.and it was also a very spiritual moment because I simply felt that I was in the hands of God, that it will be what the Lord decides. “He wanted me to be here, to hug my family and relatives of so many political prisoners who came here to Oslo.” The statements occurred at a press conference for a few international media, where SuchWhich He was the only Venezuelan.
Machado had remained in hiding since the 2024 presidential elections, in which she was disqualified from running and whose results were questioned by the opposition and foreign governments. The Wall Street Journal describes his departure as one of the most delicate extraction operations carried out by the Stern network, due to his high profile and the visibility of his face inside and outside Venezuela.
*Read also: Machado proposes incentives for Maduro collaborators who help in a transition
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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