Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday asked governments in the Americas and in Europe to withdraw leftist Colombian rebel groups from their lists of terrorist organizations.

In his annual state of the nation address to the Venezuelan Congress, Chavez said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) are true "insurgent" armies, not terrorists.

The Colombian government described the comments as "unheard of and disproportionate." Interior Minister Carlos Holguin said "the condition of terrorist is not a product of a quality or a designation, but the acts they commit."

Chavez blamed the current terrorist status of the two groups on "pressure from the United States."

"We need to grant recognition to FARC and the ELN, they are insurgent forces which have a political project, a Bolivarian project, that is respected here (in Venezuela)," Chavez said.

Over the past year, Chavez has led efforts to free hostages held by FARC in the Colombian jungle, at one point being removed as mediator after a conflict with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. On Thursday politicians Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez were released.

The two women had both been held by FARC for more than five years, along with an estimated more than 700 others, some of whom have been held for more than 10 years.

The Colombian government refuses to recognize a formal internal conflict in the country, and to grant rebels the corresponding official status.

Colombian presidential advisor Jose Obdulio Gaviria said FARC is a terrorist organization beyond "the whim of any government."