LA PAZ, Bolivia --- Bolivia is now using the yuan to pay for imports and exports, becoming the latest country in South America to regularly use the Chinese currency in a small but growing challenge to the hegemony of the U.S. dollar for international financial transactions in the region. Between May and July of this year, Bolivia conducted financial operations amounting to 278 million Chinese yuan ($38.7 million), which accounts for 10 percent of its foreign trade during that period, Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said on Thursday. "We're already using the yuan. It's a reality and a good start," Montenegro said during a news conference. "Banana, zinc, and wood manufacturin...Keep on reading: Bolivia is latest South American nation to use China’s yuan for trade