Evidence produced by Colombia against Venezuela is compelling and shows that the government of President Hugo Chávez is sheltering Colombian guerrilla groups, the Washington Post reported.

The evidence is so compelling that "were it occurring in the Middle East, (the case) would surely be before the UN Security Council," said the influential US newspaper in an editorial published on Friday, AP reported.

Faced with the question of why President Alvaro Uribe decided to make these allegations in the last days as Colombian ruler, the US newspaper commented that Uribe "is deeply frustrated by Venezuela's continuing support for the FARC - and by the failure of the international community to hold Mr. Chávez accountable for it."

According to the Washington Post, Uribe "has devoted his presidency to rescuing Colombia from armed gangs of both the left and the right," and "before leaving office, Mr. Uribe felt compelled to make one more effort to call attention to a problem."