The program provides benefits for old age, maternity, disability, and sickness. The government has increased per capita spending on health and reorganized the National Health Service to provide local, decentralized health units. Chile's infant mortality rate, moreover, has declined sharply since the 1960s to one of the lowest levels in all of Latin America. There is an acute housing shortage, however, in Chilean urban areas. Primary education is free and compulsory for children between 6 and 13 years.
Chile has numerous universities, some of which are renowned throughout Latin America.
Under the military government the news media in Chile were monitored and regulated by the government, although mild criticism of governmental actions by some publications and private radio stations was permitted. History Little is known of pre-Spanish Chile. The Spaniards were unable to subdue them despite campaigns against them that continued through the 19th century. Spanish penetration into Chile began in 1536 under the leadership of Diego de Almagro and, later, Pedro de Valdivia, who founded Santiago in 1541. Agriculture, based on huge estates, was the major economic activity and was instrumental in creating a class of wealthy landowners.