María Corina Machado, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, faced an extraordinary hurdle just to reach the ceremony: getting out of Venezuela. After spending more than a year in hiding following an election widely seen as fraudulent, her extraction to Oslo required a tense, carefully planned operation.
At the center was Bryan Stern, a U.S. Special Forces veteran who founded the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation. Stern and a team of U.S. military veterans, experienced in hundreds of extractions, had just a week to plan what they called Operation Golden Dynamite — a nod to Alfred Nobel.
A land route was dismissed because Machado could be recognized at checkpoints, so the team chose a sea route. They also had to account for increased U.S. military activity off Venezuela’s coast, where forces have destroyed alleged narco-trafficking boats in recent months. Stern says he coordinated with U.S. officials who knew they would be operating in the area and deliberately avoided using a fast, conspicuous boat that might attract attention.
The operation hit a snag when Machado’s boat didn’t arrive at the planned rendezvous point in the Caribbean. Stern says they pivoted and went to meet her. The transfer happened at night in rough seas, with 10-foot waves and only flashlights to navigate. Each crew approached with extreme caution, unsure whether the other might be cartel members, government agents, or other threats.
Once close enough to hear one another, a voice across the water identified herself: “It’s me — María!” Stern pulled her aboard, and the trip to a Caribbean island — widely reported to be Curaçao, though he declined to confirm — was calmer. A private plane then flew her onward to Oslo.
Stern praised Machado’s resilience. Despite the cold, wet, hunger, and darkness that had veterans complaining, he said she never complained. He had admired her political fight for years and found her toughness remarkable. “She’s gnarly,” he said, laughing, and called her “pretty awesome.”