Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado coordinated her escape from the country with the U.S. partly to avoid being targeted by Washington forces as part of its pressure campaign against the Maduro regime, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal detailed the ordeal Machado went through to make it to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She left the country in disguise, including a wig.
The escape began on Monday afternoon. She went from a suburb in Caracas, where she has been in hiding for a year, to a coastal fishing village.
To get there, she had to go through 10 military checkpoints before reaching her destination, where a boat awaited to sail her through the Caribbean and to Curaçao. Along with two companions, they endured choppy seas that slowed down their wooden fishing skiff.
Before setting out, her team had to coordinate with the U.S. military to avoid being targeted as part of the military campaign pressure the Trump administration has been conducting against the Maduro regime. U.S. forces have conducted more than 20 strikes since September, killing over 85 people.
"We coordinated that she was going to leave by a specific area so that they would not blow up the boat," a person close to the operation said. Around the same time, two Navy jets spent about 40 minutes flying in tight circles near the route, making it the closest incursion of U.S. aircraft in the Venezuelan airspace since the campaign began in September.
Machado reached Curaçao and met a private contractor specialized in extractions. After spending a night in the country, Machado boarded an executive jet provided by a Miami associate and made it for Norway. She arrived after the award was given, with her daughter receiving it on her behalf.
Machado is set to spend a few days in Norway, then tour European countries to gather support for her cause, and will eventually make it to the U.S., according to a person close to her.
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