Santiago de Chile, September 9 (teleSUR-RHC)-- The Chilean government said Tuesday that it is planning to host at least 100 Syrian families, making Chile the latest Latin American country to offer asylum to Syrians who are fleeing violence at home.       

"To address the grave humanitarian crisis affecting thousands of Syrian citizens, Chile's government ... has begun reviewing the necessary paperwork to take in as quickly as possible Syrian families that seek refuge," Chile's Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz said in a statement. "Chile has experience with this ... the decision has already been made by the president and it will happen as soon as possible."  

Chile's announcement comes a day after the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced his country would receive up to 20,000 Syrians. Several Latin American countries, including Brazil. Uruguay and Argentina, are already hosting refugees from the war-torn nation.

The United Nations said last month that 86 percent of registered refugees around the world were hosted in developing countries. Currently, Turkey hosts more than 1.8 million Syrians and Lebanon has more than one million refugees from Syria, according to U.N. figures.