Footage of Machado’s 'secret' evacuation from Venezuela goes viral

A US-based rescue group has released video footage showing Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado being "secretly" evacuated from the country, shifting focus to her dramatic escape following a deadly US special operation in Caracas that left at least 83 security personnel dead, according to Venezuelan authorities.

The footage, published by the extraction team Grey Bull, shows Machado being transferred from a small boat to a high-speed vessel in rough seas. In the video, she confirms she is “alive and safe,” marking her first visual proof of life after months in hiding.

Grey Bull founder Bryan Stern said the operation involved picking Machado up in international waters after she departed Venezuela’s coastline by boat.

Sources say she had remained underground for nearly a year before quietly leaving the country last month to attend a Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, reports CNN.

The video emerged as Venezuela’s defence minister Vladimir Padrino López said 47 Venezuelan soldiers and 32 Cuban security personnel were killed in a US operation on January 3, during which American forces allegedly used helicopters to extract President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the presidential compound. More than 112 people were reported injured.

The release of the video has intensified diplomatic fallout. Protests erupted outside the US embassy in Havana over the deaths of Cuban personnel, while Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the operation as “barbaric.”

Washington has not commented directly on the video. US President Donald Trump, however, defended the broader operation and reiterated claims over Venezuela’s oil reserves, while warning Cuba to quickly enter negotiations with the United States.

Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez has declared seven days of national mourning. CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who recently met Rodríguez, said the US would no longer tolerate the presence of hostile forces in Venezuela.