The Albany Gazette - Dark, wet, choppy: Machado's secret sea escape from Venezuela

Bryan Stern, who heads a nonprofit rescue organization, detailed the mission in an interview CBS News published Thursday after the Venezuelan opposition figure emerged in Norway following her Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

"It was dangerous. It was scary," said Stern, a US special forces veteran, describing dark and choppy conditions that also provided convenient cover for the escape.

He recalled meeting Machado out at sea after she left Venezuela, where she had been in hiding since January fearing persecution by President Nicolas Maduro.

She boarded his boat for a 13-14 hour journey to an undisclosed location to catch a plane as part of a mission planned just four days earlier, CBS reported.

"The sea conditions were ideal for us, but certainly not water that you would want to be on ... the higher the waves, the harder it is for radar to see," Stern said.

"This was in the middle of the night -- very little moon, a little bit of cloud cover, very hard to see, boats have no lights.

"All of us were pretty wet. My team and I were soaked to the gills. She was pretty cold and wet, too. She had a very arduous journey.

"She was very happy. She was very excited. She was very tired," Stern said, adding that around two dozen people were directly involved within his team.

- 'Generous donors' -

A representative for Machado confirmed that Stern's company Grey Bull Rescue Foundation was behind the operation that began on Tuesday, CBS said.

The account follows other reporting by the Wall Street Journal that Machado wore a wig and a disguise to flee her hideout in a suburb of Venezuelan capital Caracas.

Stern did not divulge details about the land operation, citing his company's future work in Venezuela.

He told CBS the Machado mission was financed by "a few generous donors" -- none of whom were US officials.

"The US government did not contribute a single penny to this operation, at least not that I know of," Stern said.

He said, however, that his group did "unofficially collaborate" with the US military about positioning and plans, largely to avoid being targeted by airstrikes.

Machado said on Thursday that she had US support to leave Venezuela.

She has announced plans to return home, though it is not clear how or when she will do so.

Stern said his group will not be involved in that operation as it only works on getting people out of countries, not in.

"That's for her to determine and for her to decide. But I think she should not go back. But she wants to. Maria is truly inspirational," he said.

(B.Smith--TAG)