'72 Type II rear hatch latch frozen

Well after 6 years + without an aircooled vw in my possesision, I finally got my trusty old '72 westy shipped back to me from clear across the country where it had been stored outside un-touched for 6+ years. To my elation (although I half expected it) I replaced the battery, changed the oil and gas and she fired up immediately with a little prime of gas down the carb. Anyway, I havew been going through lubricating all of the various hinges, latches etc and came across the rear hatch(not the engine lid) that would not open. So I climbed inside, took off the access panel an found the push button to be doing its job (releasing the latch pawl) yet the latch itself remains frozen. So I tried to lubricate the hell out of it and move the latch by tapping on it with a small punch. It would'nt budge! Now I know that I could get it open through brute force and end up needing to replace some parts but would rather figure out a way get the latch un-frozen without breaking anything. If anyone has some experience in this problem and has found a non-destructive remedy, PLease reply! Thanks-Techrat

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