Sat Dec 13 13:00:00 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary and a rewritten news article based on the text provided:
Summary:
A US special forces veteran, Bryan Stern, founder of the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation, spearheaded a risky extraction of Venezuelan Nobel laureate María Corina Machado. The 16-hour operation involved a boat journey through rough waters, complicated by the extensive search for Machado by Venezuelan, Cuban, and potentially Russian intelligence services. Machado was successfully transported to Curaçao, then flown to Oslo, Norway, to accept her Nobel Peace Prize. Stern, who has conducted hundreds of rescue operations, called this the most high-profile and challenging, and has advised Machado against returning to Venezuela due to the dangers she would face.
News Article:
US Veteran Pleads with Nobel Laureate Machado Not to Return to Venezuela After Perilous Extraction
OSLO, Norway – A US special forces veteran is urging Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado to remain outside of Venezuela after his team successfully extracted her from the country in a daring, 16-hour operation. Bryan Stern, founder of the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation, described the mission as his organization’s “hardest, most high profile, most delicate” to date.
Machado, who accepted her Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo this week after being unable to attend the official ceremony due to being in hiding, was spirited out of Venezuela by boat in a clandestine operation, largely conducted at night, to avoid detection. According to Stern, the risk was amplified by the intense search for Machado by multiple intelligence agencies, including Venezuelan, Cuban, and potentially Russian forces.
“Because of her face, because of her signature, because the entire Venezuelan intelligence service, the entire Cuban intelligence service, parts of the Russian intelligence, were all looking for her for months,” Stern explained.
After reaching a rendezvous point at sea, Machado boarded a vessel captained by Stern, eventually arriving in Curaçao, a Dutch island near Venezuela. From there, she traveled to Norway.
Stern, whose team has rescued over 8,000 people in 800 operations, revealed that he communicated with the US military during the mission to avoid being mistaken for a threat amidst ongoing US operations in the Caribbean.
While Machado has hinted at support from the US government, Stern maintains the operation was funded by anonymous donors and, to his knowledge, lacked official US backing.
Despite Machado’s desire to return to Venezuela, Stern has pleaded with her to reconsider. “When we were on the boat together, we talked about this, and I begged her not to go back,” Stern told CNN. “She’s a real hero and icon of mine, and to put her back in harm’s way where she may be arrested, killed, tortured, who knows what?”
Machado’s team has declined to comment on the specifics of the extraction. Her future plans remain unclear, but the risks associated with a return to Venezuela are undeniable.
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