The Vietnamese Fatherland Front founded February 1977 (merged Vietnamese Fatherland Front of North Vietnam, National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) and Alliance of National, Democratic and Peace Forces of Việt Nam in the South Vietnam), is an umbrella group of pro-government "mass movements" in Vietnam, and has close links to the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese government. It is an amalgamation of many smaller groups, including the Communist Party itself. Other groups that participated in the establishment of the Front were the remnants of the Viet Cong, the Vietnamese General Confederation of Labour, Vietnamese Pioneer Young Union and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (aka the Hồ Chí Minh Youth). It also included the Democratic Party of Vietnam and Socialist Party of Vietnam, until they were disbanded in 1988. It also incorporates some officially sanctioned religious groups.