Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez has proposed new oil reforms in her first state of the union address since former president Nicolás Maduro was seized by the US.
Rodríguez said she wanted to reform the law that limits foreign involvement in the country's oil industry - a move away from Maduro's policies.
She said she was not afraid to face the US diplomatically through political dialogue, adding Venezuela had to defend its dignity and honour.
President Donald Trump has said US oil companies would move into Venezuela and make money that would go to people there and to the US, with a top official saying the US would control sales of sanctioned Venezuelan oil indefinitely.
Trump has asked oil companies to invest at least $100bn (£75bn) in Venezuela, but one executive said last week the country is currently uninvestable.
Rodríguez, the former vice-president, was sworn in on 5 January after US forces seized Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in an operation in Caracas. They are now detained in New York, where they have pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges.
Rodríguez told Venezuelans it was very difficult to deliver Maduro's annual report, saying that the two were working on the speech together until six hours before his seizure on 3 January.
Noting the US is a nuclear power, the interim president said she was not afraid to engage in diplomacy, saying we have to go together as Venezuelans to defend sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and also defend our dignity and our honour.
She continued that if she needed to travel to Washington DC to meet with Trump, she would do so walking on her feet, not dragged there.
In her address, Rodríguez announced the proposal to reform the country's hydrocarbon law, asking the legislative body to approve it. Until now, Venezuela's hydrocarbon law has stated foreign partners must work with the state's oil company, PDVSA - which must hold a majority stake.
The reforms would allow investment to flow to new fields. Rodríguez stated she had instructed her government to create two sovereign funds - one for social protection and the second for infrastructure and social development.
Venezuela has been facing an economic crisis, with a sharp rise in food prices. We're more worried about food. Venezuela is in bad shape. Inflation is eating us alive, stated a concerned citizen.
Rodríguez's reforms come as Trump and American investors eye opportunity in Venezuela, which holds the world's largest proven oil reserves. However, US oil firms have acknowledged that substantial changes are necessary for the region to be an attractive investment.
Trump stated his administration would decide which firms could operate in Venezuela, emphasizing that dealings would be directly with the US government, not Venezuela.
