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The audacious getaway of Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado entailed a long, frightening and very wet sea crossing in the dead of night, according to the American man who says he led the mission.

A Perilous Nighttime Crossing

Bryan Stern, who heads a rescue nonprofit, outlined the mission in a recent interview. It was perilous. It was terrifying,” said Stern, a US special forces veteran, describing dark and choppy conditions that also provided convenient cover for the escape.

“The ocean was perfect for our purposes, but certainly not water that you would want to be on ... the bigger the swells, the harder it is for radar to see,” Stern said.

He recalled rendezvousing with Machado offshore after she departed from Venezuela, where she had been lying low for over a year due to fear of persecution by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

The Step-by-Step Extraction

She boarded his boat for a 13- to 14-hour trip to an undisclosed location to board a flight, in a mission orchestrated just four days earlier. The operation occurred at midnight – very little moon, a little bit of cloud cover, very hard to see, vessels running dark. All of us were pretty wet. My crew and I were drenched. She was pretty cold and wet, too. She endured a grueling passage,” Stern added.

Describing her condition, he commented, “She was very happy. She was very excited. She was exhausted,” and noted about two dozen people were directly involved within his organization.

Confirmation and Disguise

A representative for Machado verified that Stern’s foundation was responsible for the extraction, which commenced earlier in the week. This report comes after previous reporting that Machado used a wig and costume to leave her safe house in a suburb of the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

The veteran declined to share specifics about the land operation, referencing his company’s future work in the country.

Financing and US Involvement

He told media the mission was funded through “several benefactors” – none of whom were US officials involved. “The US government did not contribute a single penny, to my knowledge,” Stern asserted.

He said, however, that his group did coordinate informally with the US military regarding positioning and plans, primarily to prevent being mistakenly fired upon.

Future Plans and Admiration

Machado said she had American backing to leave Venezuela. She has announced plans to return home, though the specifics remain uncertain the method or timing.

Stern indicated his group would play no part in that operation, as it focuses exclusively on extracting individuals from countries, not in. “She must decide that and for her to decide. But I think she should not go back. Yet she is determined. Maria is truly inspirational,” he said.