Inside the operation that smuggled Nobel laureates out of Venezuela

The rescue operation to bring Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado out of Venezuela involved camouflage, two boats crossing rough seas and a plane, the man who claimed to be leading the rescue operation told the BBC.

Brian Stern, a U.S. Special Forces veteran and founder of the Gray Bull Rescue Foundation, said the dangerous journey, known as Operation Gold Dynamite, was cold, wet and long, but the “awesome” Machado didn’t complain once.

“The sea was rough and pitch black. We used flashlights to communicate. It was very scary and a lot of things could go wrong.”

Despite the risks, they didn’t do it. Machado arrived safely in Oslo, Norway, just before midnight on Wednesday to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Machado has been in hiding in his country since last year’s disputed elections in Venezuela and has not been seen in public since January. Her adult children, whom she had not seen for two years, were greeting her in Oslo.

Gray Bull specializes in rescue missions and evacuations, especially from conflict and disaster areas. A representative from Machado’s team confirmed to BBC America’s media partner CBS News that the organization was supporting her rescue effort.

Gray Bull has been building operations in the Caribbean for months, including within Venezuela and on the neighboring island of Aruba, in preparation for potential operations in Venezuela, Stern said.

“We have been building infrastructure on the ground in Venezuela designed to allow Americans, allies, British and others to evacuate should war break out in Venezuela,” he told the BBC.

Speculation about possible U.S. military action against Venezuela has grown after U.S. President Donald Trump called on President Maduro to step down and accused him of funneling drugs and murderers to the United States.

Mr Stern said the challenge in the case was getting high-profile figures like María Corina Machado, a household name in the Venezuelan opposition, out.

He said none of the infrastructure his company has built in the country was “designed for and targeted at the second most popular person in this damn country.”

When he first contacted Machado’s team, they did not initially reveal her identity, but Mr. Stern said he was able to guess.

Stern said that when they contacted him in early December through a contact who knew Machado’s team, it was apparently a second attempt to get her out of Venezuela after the initial plan “didn’t go well.”

The operation was called “Golden Dynamite” because “Nobel invented dynamite” and Machado was trying to travel to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

Things are moving quickly. Mr Stern said he spoke to the team on Friday, they deployed on Sunday and by Tuesday their mission was complete.

His team explored various possibilities for getting Machado out of the country and settled on a plan that involved a turbulent sea journey.

To protect his future work in Venezuela, Mr. Stern could only reveal limited information about the trip.

By land, they moved Machado from the house where she was hiding to a pick-up point on a small boat, which took her to a slightly larger boat, where she joined him.

He said the voyage took place in “very rough seas” with waves up to 10 feet (3 m) high and in “pitch black”.

“The journey was not fun. It was cold, wet, we were soaked, the waves were rough and we took advantage of that. We landed her and got to where her plane was and she flew to Norway.”

He added that throughout the journey, various measures were taken to cover up and disguise Machado’s face and her digital profile because she was so famous.

“The biometric threat is so real,” he noted, adding that steps were taken to ensure she couldn’t be tracked via her phone.

He said Machado was “awesome” despite the conditions and accepted a sweater for warmth but didn’t ask for anything else.

“She was soaked and cold, but she didn’t complain once,” he said with a laugh, admitting the surgery was dangerous because the water was “unforgiving”.

“If I was driving a boat and the engine broke, I would swim to Venezuela.”

When asked how the Venezuelans involved in the operation were kept safe, Stern said they kept their identities secret and “we (Gray Bull) did a lot of deception.”

Stern said many of the people who helped didn’t even realize they were working for him, while others thought they “knew the whole story” when in fact they didn’t.

“Some people are doing things that are benign from their perspective but are critical from our perspective.”

He said the operation was funded by donors, not the U.S. government: “We have never received a thank-you note from the U.S. government, let alone a dollar.”

Stern said he did coordinate with a number of nation-states and the intelligence and diplomatic services of several countries. This includes “informal” warnings to the United States.

Machado said she planned to return to Venezuela, but Stern said he advised her not to do so.

“I told her, ‘Don’t go back. You’re the mom. We need you.’ She’s going to do what she’s going to do… I understand why she wants to go back because she’s a hero to her people.

“I hope she doesn’t go back; I have a feeling she will.”