US covert team leader describes 'dangerous' mission to rescue Venezuelan opposition leader
A U S covert squad carried out a mission to extract Venezuela s opposition leader Mar a Corina Machado as her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf in Europe Special forces veteran Bryan Stern described the treacherous operation and the measures taken to get her safely out of Venezuela It was dangerous for her very dangerous for her dangerous for everybody involved frankly commented Stern head of the Grey Bull Rescue Foundation on Fox News Radio s Brian Kilmeade Show Machado shocked much of the world when she appeared on a balcony in Oslo Norway on Thursday thousands of miles from Venezuela Stern explained his group had been doing missions in Venezuela but when they were first contacted about this task they had no idea it involved such a high-profile figure VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS COUNTRY AT 'THRESHOLD OF FREEDOM' AS NEW MANIFESTO ENVISIONS REGIME CHANGE We didn't know it was Mar a at first he commented adding that learning her identity changed everything She's been a hero of mine for years Being appealed to participate in this let alone lead this operation is possibly the greatest privilege I ll ever have in my career Stern also noted The escape unfolded by land air and sea At one point Stern noted they were in a small fishing boat in the middle of the night battling five- to -foot rough seas He described a retired Marine on the boat vomiting for hours due to the arduous conditions on the water WHY THE US COULD SNATCH A VENEZUELAN TANKER AND NOT UNDER WARTIME AUTHORITY USED IN CARTEL STRIKES Mar a didn't complain once Stern announced describing her behavior throughout the journey as inspirational Stern noted that the company operated under the constant threat of detection by Venezuelan leader Nicol s Maduro s forces and that he didn t relax until Machado was in Norway When I saw Mar a hug her daughter is when I took a deep breath he revealed VENEZUELA ACCUSES US OF 'PIRACY' AFTER SEIZING MASSIVE OIL TANKERMachado had been in hiding since January after she was detained in Caracas an arrest her supporters say came after she joined crowds protesting Maduro s inauguration She has long been an outspoken critic of the Maduro regime and its contested elections and she leads Venezuela s main opposition movement She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting democracy and human rights Machado has publicly thanked President Donald Trump for his assistance against the regime and advised Fox News Digital she dedicated the prize to him as well Her daughter Ana Corina Sosa accepted the award in her place on Wednesday saying her mother will never give up on wanting to live in a free Venezuela Machado s extraction comes as the U S policies up pressure on the Maduro leadership Earlier in December the White House established the military seized a multimillion-dollar tanker reportedly carrying illicit Iranian oil
