Maria Corina Machado's getaway from Venezuela involved a long, "scary" and very wet sea crossing in the dead of night with no lights, according to the US man who says he led the operation.

Bryan Stern, who heads a nonprofit rescue organization, detailed the mission in an interview CBS News published Thursday after the Venezuelan opposition figure emerged in Norway following her Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

"It was dangerous. It was scary," said Stern, a US special forces veteran, describing dark and choppy conditions that also provided convenient cover for the escape.

He recalled meeting Machado out at sea after she left Venezuela, where she had been in hiding since January fearing persecution by President Nicolas Maduro.

She boarded his boat for a 13-14 hour journey to an undisclosed l

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