CARACAS, Venezuela  The National Assembly has approved a sweeping set of laws that impose penalties for spreading political dissent on the Internet, grant decree powers to President Hugo Chávez for 18 months and prevent legislators from breaking with his political movement.

Despite an outcry here by critics, pro-Chávez lawmakers rapidly approved the measures in the closing weeks of the year, before a less pliant legislature convenes next month with a bigger opposition presence.

The laws are not particularly surprising. Legislators have repeatedly granted decree powers to Mr. Chávez, and a new measure curbing university autonomy had been floated in the past. Another law simply enhances existing legal mechanisms that rights groups contend are used to dissuade the media from explicitly criticizing the government.

Still, the laws reflect a departure from Mr. Chávez’s earlier focus on creating new institutions, like state television networks and universities, that promote the Socialist-inspired ideology of his movement.