The United States and over 100 other countries, including Chile, are party to the International Convention on Road Traffic. This Convention is intended to establish uniform reciprocal privileges on matters such as drivers' permits. The agreement also requires the US and its states to allow a foreign driver admitted to the US to drive a private motor vehicle for one year on certain conditions.

According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles a valid driver license from another country is valid in NYS. NYS recognizes your foreign driver license if you remain a resident of the nation that issued the license. You do not need to have a NYS driver license to drive in NYS unless you become a resident of New York State.

You must have a valid driver license in your home country to get an international driving permit. The international driving permit is not a driver license. The international driving permit only indicates and verifies that you have a valid driver license in your home country.

Your foreign driver license, not the International Driving Permit, allows you to drive in NYS. Contact the authorities in your home country to get an International Driving Permit. You are not required to have an International Driving Permit to drive in NYS, but the permit has value. The permit verifies, in several languages, that you have a valid foreign driver license. A police officer who cannot read the language on your foreign driver license can read the permit.

You can read more about having a foreign license and driving in New York if you go the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles site and look up Drivers from Other Nations.

Most major rental car companies allow foreign visitors to rent vehicles as long as they have a valid readable un-expired license from their country of residence. If the license is not in English, some rental car companies will require a valid International Drivers License or Permit (IDP) to be presented in conjunction with the valid foreign driver's license. The IDP alone will not be enough to allow you to rent a car.

Some rental agencies will not rent to anyone under the age of 25 or will but charge a higher fee. So if you are below 25, check on the rental car company's restrictions when booking your rental vehicle.

There are some rental companies that have extra restrictions depending on what country you are licensed in and may have overall restrictions for those with a foreign license. For example Alamo states that in order to rent an Alamo vehicle, a valid driver's license from the customer's country of residence is required and must be presented at time of rental.

This rental car company goes on to say that the driver's license must be valid for the entire rental period. International renters must present a valid license from their country of residence. If the driver's license is in a language other than English, an International Driver's Permit is required in conjunction with the country of residence driver's license. Customers will not be allowed to rent a vehicle with only an International Driver's Permit.

As for insurance, if you do not want to purchase it from the rental agency you can check with your auto insurance company from your home country to see if they will cover a US rental car. You might also check with your credit card company to see if they provide insurance coverage for a USA car rental.