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Stanley T. Escudero |
Stan Escudero is President of Shield Bearer L.L.C., a newly-established but already successful consulting firm based in Azerbaijan and Florida. A veteran Bakuvian, Stan first arrived in Azerbaijan in 1997 as Ambassador of the United States. Using his extensive access at the highest levels of the Azerbaijani government as well as his detailed knowledge of the Caucasus and Central Asia, Stan was always ready to help businessmen avoid the pitfalls of new endeavors in Azerbaijan or to resolve the problems endemic to business activity in a former Soviet economy. Ably supported by his popular and active wife Jaye, he quickly established a reputation and a productive track record as one ambassador who is dedicated to the success of American business abroad. Together they became and remain strong and effective supporters of USACC and AMCHAM.
Long a believer in the future of Azerbaijan and the outstanding opportunities available to the careful and well-advised investor, Stan is one advisor who put his money and his life where is mouth is. He retired in November, 2000, after almost 34 years of service with the American government. Within weeks demand for his knowledge and contacts brought him back to Azerbaijan as a consultant for such companies as British American Tobacco and as a member of the board of Central Asia Energy/Karasu Operating Company, the local arm of Moncrief Oil International. Many other clients sought his services and, by mid-summer 2001, Stan was spending more time in Baku than in America. At the urging of several clients he and Jaye agreed to return permanently and, by the end of August, Stan was back in Baku setting up a branch office of Shield Bearer. Jaye joined him in October. Their older son Alex already lived in Baku, working in import-export and, with the arrival in December of their younger son Benjamin, also engaged in import-export, the Escudero family was reunited in Azerbaijan.
Born in 1942 in Daytona Beach, Florida, Stan is a graduate of the University of Florida. He entered the American Foreign Service in 1967 -- he and Jaye were married that same year. In a career focused principally on Central and South Asia, Stan became a skilled navigator of the Washington labyrinth as well as a consummate regional expert. He and Jaye served in Pakistan (1967-68), Niger (1968-70), Iran (1971-75) Iran again (in an exciting 1978-79 undercover operation during the Iranian revolution), India (1984-87), as Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of Central Command (Marine Gen. George Christ and Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf 1987-89), and Egypt (1990-92). In the latter year he was named the first ever American ambassador to the newly independent Republic of Tajikistan, a dangerous 1992-95 assignment during which he and his staff became the only U.S. embassy ever to be evacuated under fire inside Russian armor. He followed Tajikistan with a posting as ambassador to neighboring Uzbekistan (1995-97) before coming to Azerbaijan. At the time of his retirement in 2000, Stan was the only American diplomat ever to serve three ambassadorships in the nations of the former Soviet Union, making him the senior official of the government of the United States most experienced in this region.
A well-known public speaker and author of numerous magazine and press articles on Azerbaijan, Stan lives and maintains offices at 74 Teymur Aliyev Street, Ganglik, Baku. He can be reached by landline at 9-9412-906-406, mobile at 994-50-348-9476 or 994-50-223-3562, via fax at 9-9412-906-324 or by e-mail at shieldbearer1@msn.com.
