Minister says Spanish newspaper's use of image taken from 2008 YouTube video was 'as grotesque as it was false'

The Venezuelan government has said it will sue a leading Spanish newspaper for running a fake picture on its front page of Hugo Chávez undergoing surgery.

Ernesto Villegas, the minister of information, said the use of the image was "as grotesque as it was false" and claimed it formed part of a smear campaign by international interests to create instability in the country.

"[Publishing] this photo doesn't only violate all norms of ethical journalism, it also violates this newspaper's own style manual," Villegas said.

Officials say Chávez is recovering from his latest health problems and could return to Venezuela within days, but few details of his condition have been made public, which has led to a flurry of rumours and internet pranks.

The Spanish daily El País appeared to have fallen for one of them on Thursday when it ran a picture on the front page its digital and print editions showing a man receiving assisted respiration during surgery.

The grainy image, which was recognised by several readers as belonging to a video posted on YouTube in 2008, was sold to El País by the news agency Gtres Online, which claimed it got it from a nurse in Cuba where Chávez has been convalescing away from the public eye for nearly two months.

The newspaper promptly issued an apology to its readers, but the Venezuelan government said it had failed to extend the apology to the Chávez family. "The damage is not repaired with the meagre apologies from this Spanish newspaper," Villegas said. He said the government would use all legal means to seek "reparation for the damage caused not only to President Chávez but to all Venezuelans".

This week the newly appointed foreign minister, Elías Jaua, said Chávez had laughed and joked with him during Jaua's brief visit to Havana, where the pair discussed an upcoming summit of European and Latin American leaders. Jaua will attend the gathering in Chile in place of the president.

Opposition demands that the government provide proof that Chávez is alive have been largely ignored or dismissed. On past trips to Cuba for treatment, the president appeared in video or photographs or could be heard on the telephone or internet making public pronouncements. But on this occasion news has been limited to official statements that offer scant information on his prognosis or the approximate date of his return.

"If he can laugh and joke, why can't he pick up the phone and call Venezuelans?" said the opposition leader, Henrique Capriles.