VIDEO Dramatic images of Corina Machado's escape from Venezuela published by the rescue team
María Corina Machado. Photo: X video capture
US-based rescue team Gray Bull released a short video on Friday showing how they helped get Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado out of the country in December 2025, CNN reports.
Machado fled Venezuela in early December, the country where he had been living in hiding since August 2024, in order to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, which he eventually presented to Donald Trump.
The 58-year-old opponent boarded a boat from the Venezuelan coast and sailed to a meeting point in the Caribbean Sea. There, she was picked up by Gray Bull founder and special forces veteran Bryan Stern and his crew, who were waiting for her on another boat.
The edited two-minute video shows Machado arriving and boarding the second ship in the middle of the night.
“They're, they're, they're,” Stern can be heard saying, as the lights on Machado's boat appear in the distance and approach his craft.
Stern recognizes Machado and helps her aboard his boat, though the exact moment of the transfer is barely visible due to the darkness.
“Hi María. My name is Bryan. Nice to meet you. I'm taking care of you,” Stern is heard on the recording as she climbs up.
“I'm so wet and it's so cold,” Machado is heard saying.
That's how he came out @MariaCorinaYA of Venezuela. Video publicado momentos antes de su rueda de prensa en Washington, por quienes hicieron el rescate “Grey Bull Rescue”… pic.twitter.com/FveUgGqzXo
— Idania Chirinos (@IdaniaChirinos) January 16, 2026
The video then cuts to Machado, dressed in a dark jacket and cap, speaking directly to the camera: “I'm María Corina Machado. I'm alive. I'm safe and I'm very grateful to the Gray Bull team.”
The video ends with various images of Machado with Stern and his team.
16 hour operation
Gray Bull said last month that the mission to get Maria Machado out of Venezuela took nearly 16 hours and took place mostly in the middle of the night in rough waters. The rescue group does civilian extractions in many parts of the world. Led by Stern, he performed at least 800 operations.
Contacted by CNN, Machado refused to comment on the extraction operation, citing safety reasons for those involved.
Machado previously told reporters that he had received support from the US government, but declined to elaborate, saying: “One day I will be able to tell you, because of course I don't want to put them in danger at this point.”
Stern said last month that the operation was funded by anonymous donors and, as far as he knows, was not supported by the US government, but acknowledged that his team had communicated with the US military to inform them of their presence at sea.
