Tillerson said today in Argentina's capital that the US wants "free, fair, and verifiable elections" in Venezuela, and wants to apply enough pressure to end the crisis in the South American country.
But he also said that he wants to find ways to mitigate the negative impact that sanctions would have on US oil companies, Venezuelans and other regional countries that rely on Venezuelan oil.
Venezuela sits atop the world's largest oil reserves and is the third-largest supplier to the US.
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