(NewsNation) — An American nonprofit carried out yet another successful evacuation last month, this time with a twist.
Grey Bull Rescue, known for saving Americans from dangerous situations and countries across the world, stepped in to help Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado flee the country to receive her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway last month.
The nonprofit’s chairman and founder, Bryan Stern, joined NewsNation on Friday to explain how he helped Machado escape amid great risk to her life.
“The mechanics of it were not that complicated. They weren’t, but her signature, who she is, was profound. This is the most high-profile extraction since the shah of Iran in 1979,” Stern said.
Stern said Machado had been in hiding for a year and had powerful forces looking to find her before the trip to Norway.
“The Maduro regime and the SEBIN, the Venezuelan intelligence service, the Cuban intelligence service, the Russian intelligence service, Hezbollah, the Iranians, all kinds of people, have been actively looking for her for a very, very, very long time, and that part of it made it extremely difficult,” he said.
Machado was placed in a safe house, then was packed into a vehicle, on to a fishing boat and a secondary one, all while trying to avoid Venezuelan security services, without using phones or communications aside from flashlights.