It was a hair-raising situation.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado disguised herself in a wig to pass though ten military checkpoints — then hopped onto fishing skiff in the dead of night escape the socialist country and receive a Nobel Peace, sources said Thursday.
Machado made her daring, days-long secret journey to Norway — braving the choppy, open ocean before hopping onto a private jet — with help from a team of private American rescuers, according to CBS.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado disguised herself in a wig military checkpoints then hopped onto fishing skiff. ZUMAPRESS.com“She has a very large target on her back,” Bryan Stern, a U.S. special forces veteran, who helped her flee the country, told the station.
“This is not a random shopkeeper who doesn’t wanna be in Venezuela anymore. This is moving around a rock star,” said Stern, who works with the rescue firm Grey Bull.
The 58-year-old activist — who won the Nobel Prize for her tireless work against authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro — began the treacherous trek from the Caracas suburb where she’d been in hiding Monday afternoon.
She then slipped on her wigged disguise to pass through a series of heart-pounding military check points, which took her roughly 10 hours to complete, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Once she cleared them, she made her way to a fishing village and boarded a wooden fishing skiff at around 5 a.m. Tuesday, sources close to the operation told the paper.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado had been in hiding for months to avoid threats from her own government. CBS NewsThe fearless political dissident and two “companions” battled wild wind and rough water to cross the Caribbean Sea to Curaçao, where she arrived at 3 p.m. Tuesday, the paper reported.
She was then met by a private contractor who specialized in “extractions” and was provided by the Trump administration, an insider said.
After resting the night, she boarded a private plane sent by an associate in Miami and flew to Oslo, where the Nobel Prize ceremony was held Wednesday morning.
Machado received a Nobel Prize for her work against Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. REUTERSMachado, who had been in hiding for months to avoid threats from her own government, arrived until after the ceremony and her daughter accepted the award on her behalf.
When she finally made it to Oslo, Machado stood on the balcony of the city’s central Grand Hotel and waved to supporters.
Fans yelled “valiente!”— Spanish for brave — and joyfully sang the Venezuelan national anthem outside her hotel.
“I’m still trying to believe that I’m here in Oslo at last,” Machado said in an interview with the BBC early Thursday.
