According to a picture published by several news media outlets, the aircraft that took Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, to Oslo this week is registered in México. According to Mexican aircraft registration records, the aircraft porting the registration XA-FUF is owned and operated by Redwings, S.A. de C.V. based in México.
Redwings, which was launched in 2007, operated at least eight aircraft providing charter services. However, online records now show it operates five charter aircraft, including two Embraer Legacy 600 aircraft. One of them is the one that delivered Machado to Oslo.
According to a now-defunct website, Redwings began operations out of the Toluca International airport. In 2017, the charter aircraft relocated its operations to Queretaro. In 2024, the charter company opened a second office in Puebla. The company rebranded to RWS this year.
The aircraft’s current color scheme, the one shown in news media pictures was recently upgraded in April at an aircraft maintenance firm based in Monterrey.
Online flight tracking information shows that the aircraft landed at Oslo Gardermoen International airport serving Oslo, Norway on December 10 at 23:56 Central European Time (CET). It had departed Bangor International airport at 11:33 EST. Bangor is a civil-military airport in Maine. The aircraft had arrived in Maine from Curaçao International Airport, a little less than hour before, suggesting it used Maine to refuel for the transatlantic flight to Norway. The aircraft had been repositioned to Miami from Mexico City the day before the operation to take Machado to Oslo began.
For the aircraft to land in Maine, it had to declare the number of people on board, including crew members and their nationalities hours before entering U.S. airspace. No word on whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was aware if Machado was on board (unlikely), and if any immigration accommodations were made for her and others accompanying her. However it is now known that the U.S. government was aware of the operation suggesting that her presence on U.S. soil was tacitly ignored or she was provided immigration relief by American immigration officials.
The Operation To Deliver Machado To Oslo
Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 in October had been hiding in the jungle for at least a year as Nicolás Maduro strengthened his grip on Venezuela’s government.
The operation that ended at the Oslo airport yesterday morning started on Tuesday. She was spirited out of Venezuela by a private paramilitary nonprofit based in Tampa, Florida, named Grey Bull Rescue.
According to Grey Bull’s CEO, Bryan Stern’s recounting of the operation to CBS News, it took Machado 15-16 hours to leave Venezuela. Machado had left Venezuela on a small boat and she was taken to an “undisclosed location” by a second boat. Stern refused to tell CBS News where the undisclosed location was, citing “other work to do in Venezuela.”
However, retracing the aircraft’s route along with Stern’s description of ferrying Machado in a small boat, and then transferred to another boat shows that the “undisclosed” location was Curaçao. From there, Machado boarded the flight that took her to Oslo.
The U.S. government was tacitly involved in the operation because, as Stern, described it, they were afraid the two boats that carried Machado out of Venezuela would be mistaken as drug boats by the U.S. Navy and targeted for a missile strike. Machado, herself, confirmed that although the U.S. government did not fund the operation to help her escape Venezuela and that U.S. troops were not involved, the U.S. government provided “unofficial” support by collaborating with Grey Bull so as not to be mistakenly targeted for a missile strike. Also, her short presence in Maine must have led to alerting U.S. immigration officials that she had entered the country.
