Coffee leaf rust, one of the most destructive diseases of this crop plant, does not occur in the American continent. However, the frequent commercial flights and the ever increasing speed of the planes that connect Africa and Brazil increase the probability of introduction of the disease into this continent. This paper reviews the characteristics of the coffee leaf rust fungus, Hemileia vastatrix, its physiological races and their geographic distribution, and the main sources of resistance already determined in Coffea spp.The genetic basis of the disease resistance is discussed and the collected, data indicate the presence of five pairs of genes for resistance in the imported coffee plants of the: Campinas collection. The breeding program which is being carried on at the Instituto Agronômico, Campinas, is discussed in regard to the isolation of coffee progenies resistant to the most known races of Hemileia vastatrix.