Comedian Laureano Marquez didn’t think twice about writing a tongue-in-cheek newspaper editorial based on a dialogue between President Chavez and the leader’s 9-year-old daughter. But Mr. Marquez and a publishing company that printed the column in the Tal Cual newspaper are now facing fines imposed by a local court for “violating the honor, reputation, and private life” of Rosines Chavez Rodriguez, Mr. Chavez’s youngest daughter.

Mr. Marquez — one of Venezuela’s leading humorists — denies any wrongdoing and argues the $18,600 fine imposed on the Mosca Analfabeta publisher is part of a government initiative in which pro-Chavez prosecutors and judges are being used to silence critics. Mr. Marquez must separately pay a fine of a yet-to-be-determined amount.

During a broadcast of his radio and television show, “Hello President,” Mr. Chavez told listeners that Rosines said the horse on the country’s coat of arms looked strange running to the right while craning its neck to the left. Within weeks, pro-Chavez lawmakers pushed through a reform changing the coat of arms.

In the editorial, Mr. Marquez suggested she ask her father to trade the horse on the new coat of arms for a devoted house pet, such as a Golden Retriever or tortoise — “a good symbol of our sluggishness in everything.”