RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — It's an extraordinary achievement to win the Nobel Peace Prize. But for this year's laureate, even getting to the ceremony was a feat of its own.

María Corina Machado has spent more than a year in hiding after her opposition movement defeated President Nicolás Maduro in last year's election — a vote widely viewed as fraudulent. Getting her out of Venezuela and safely to Oslo required an operation worthy of a thriller.

At the center of that mission was U.S. Special Forces Veteran Bryan Stern, the bearded, broad-shouldered founder of Grey Bull Rescue Foundation. Stern and his team of U.S. military veterans have pulled off hundreds of extractions around the world. But this one, he says, was different.

"She's the second most popular person in the Western Hemispher

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