Caracas. Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez used her first state of the union address Thursday to advocate opening the crucial state-run oil industry to more foreign investment, following the Trump administration’s pledge to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.

For the first time, Rodríguez laid out a vision for Venezuela’s new political reality — one that challenges her government’s most deeply rooted beliefs — less than two weeks after the United States captured and toppled former President Nicolás Maduro.

Under pressure from the US to cooperate with its plans to reshape Venezuela’s sanctioned oil industry, Maduro’s former vice president declared that “a new policy is being formed in Venezuela.”

She urged foreign diplomats in attendance to tell investors abroad about the changes and called on lawmakers to approve oil sector reforms that would secure foreign firms’ access to Venezuela’s vast reserves.

“Venezuela, in free trade relations with the world, can sell the products of its energy industry,” she said.

The Trump administration has said it plans to control future oil export revenues to ensure they benefit the Venezuelan people.

In that vein, Rodríguez described oil revenue flowing into two sovereign wealth funds — one to support crisis-stricken health services and another to bolster public infrastructure, much of which was built under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, and has since deteriorated.

Hospitals across the country are now so poorly equipped that patients are often asked to provide their own supplies, from syringes to surgical screws.

While Rodríguez criticized the US capture of Maduro and referred to it as a “stain on our relations,” she also promoted the resumption of diplomacy between the historic adversaries. Her succinct, 44-minute speech and conciliatory tone marked a dramatic contrast to her predecessors’ fiery denunciations of U.S. imperialism, which often lasted for hours.

“Let us not be afraid of diplomacy,” Rodríguez said. “I ask that politics not be transformed, that it not begin with hatred and intolerance.”

The day before, she gave a four-minute briefing to the media saying her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro’s harsh rule. Human rights groups, however, have verified only a fraction of the releases she claimed had taken place.

Rodríguez appears to be threading a needle.

A portrait of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, was displayed beside her as she spoke. She called on the US government to “respect the dignity” of Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail after pleading not guilty to drug trafficking charges. She portrayed herself as defending Venezuela’s sovereignty even as the country warmed relations with the US at dizzying speed.

“If one day, as acting president, I have to go to Washington, I will do so standing up, walking, not being dragged,” she said. “I’ll go standing tall … never crawling.”

Rodríguez delivered her speech as Venezuela’s Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader María Corina Machado was in Washington meeting with President Donald Trump.

Since Maduro’s ouster, Trump has frozen Machado out of discussions over Venezuela’s political future while embracing Rodríguez, praising the longtime Maduro loyalist as a “terrific person” after holding his first known phone call with her Wednesday.

Machado, whose party is widely considered to have won the disputed 2024 presidential election despite Maduro’s claims of victory, said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump during their closed-door meeting.

Emerging from the White House, she greeted dozens of cheering supporters. “We can count on President Trump,” she told them, without elaborating.

Her role in Venezuelan politics remains uncertain, as Rodríguez’s government has effectively been relieved of the need to hold elections for the foreseeable future.

Machado’s meeting with Trump received no coverage in Venezuela.

State-run television continues to broadcast a steady stream of pro-government images, including statements from Iranian and Russian officials denouncing “US aggression,” alongside wall-to-wall coverage of state-orchestrated rallies demanding Maduro’s return.

Crowds of teachers marched through the streets of Caracas on Thursday, carrying posters condemning the US for “kidnapping” Maduro and chanting slogans in support of the government. National police in riot gear were omnipresent. Pro-government graffiti scrawled across city walls read: “To doubt is to betray.”

“They’ve kept the same anti-imperialist rhetoric, but in a more moderated form,” said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University who has studied the country for 30 years. “Their idea is to give Trump everything he wants economically, but stay the course politically.”

On the streets of central Caracas, most Venezuelans declined to be interviewed, fearful of government reprisals as Maduro’s security apparatus remains intact. Others said they were simply unsure what to make of the country’s strange new reality, in which the US appears to hold decisive power.

“It’s a complete sea of uncertainty, and the only one who now has the power to make decisions is the United States government,” said Pablo Rojas, 28, a music producer.

He said he was closely following Trump’s meeting with Machado “to see if she takes a leadership position, if they consider her ready to lead the country or be a candidate.” He shook his head. “It’s impossible to know what will happen.”