This article provides an introduction to the special issue of Academia, Revista Latinoamericana de Administración dedicated to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), project. As a region, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean correspond to the second highest representation in GEM after Europe. The papers presented here are the result of studies that emphasize the Latin American context through the use of the GEM's conceptual framework and data. This introduction describes the GEM project, summarizes some key indicators for the region and analyses the contributions of these articles stressing the importance of systematic study of entrepreneurship in Latin America. © 2011 de Cladea.