Caracas, Venezuela ? Set to music befitting an action movie, the promotional ad for broadcaster Globovision recounts some of the events that have shaken this country since President Hugo Chavez came to power six years ago: a failed coup, soldiers firing on demonstrators, a strike that crippled the country and a recall vote that divided it.

Those images are now barred from the airwaves, as are all news clips depicting unrest or confrontation, whether live or edited, domestic or foreign.

New regulations imposed on Venezuelan media by the National Assembly make it punishable by fines or imprisonment to broadcast scenes of violence, words or images that “cause anguish,” or information or commentary that the legislation says could defame public officials or harm national security.

In moves critics denounce as censorship, the populist Chavez has imposed controls on television and radio that have compelled broadcasters to hold back news the government watchdogs might deem offensive, from footage of the Asian tsunami disaster to almost all the images out of Iraq.

“This is a perfect instrument to censor our programs or close the network,” said Ana Cristina Nunez, legal consultant for Globovision, the country’s only all-news channel and a counterweight to the government mouthpiece Venezolana de Television, or VTV. “Because the law is so vague and open to interpretation, there will always be the possibility to say we breached some rule. Most news has some violent element. . . . We believe this law censors information that adults have the right to watch.”

Three other private networks — RCTV, Venevision and Televen — have edited out sex scenes and graphic violence from soap operas and sitcoms. But the law has most strongly affected the way news is presented on TV, as station managers self-censor their coverage, ever mindful of the new 11-member Responsibility Directorate that will determine and punish infractions.

Chavez loyalists, including lawmaker Denise Santos-Amaral, who helped draft the broadcast law, defend the changes as long-overdue moves to clean up the airwaves.

“Television needs to serve the interests of families,” she said, claiming scenes of gore and violence from news events can have detrimental effects on children. She pointed to the 9-11 terrorist attacks in the United States as an example of upsetting violence that she believes shouldn’t be shown on TV. Under the new law’s provisions, such images can only be shown after 11 p.m. and inadvertent live broadcasts of violence cannot be repeated.

“There should be respect for audience sensitivities,” Santos-Amaral said. “Viewers shouldn’t have to look at corpses.”

But the legislative moves also have drawn censure from international democracy advocates, including the Organization of American States of which Venezuela is a member.

Late last year, before the legislature gave its final endorsement to the Law on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, the OAS’s Inter-American Commission on Human Rights wrote to Chavez to express its concern that the law violates the community’s collective commitment to free expression and “limits the flow of information on matters of public interest.”

Press freedom watchdogs such as the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York have also expressed unease at the restrictions, which will take effect here at staged intervals over the next five months.

The broadcast responsibility law will fundamentally change the nature of programming for stations such as all-news Globovision. By the end of March, all broadcasters, even those devoted to news, sports, weather or marketing, must carry at least three hours of programming for children.