The Angolan Civil War raged between 1974 and 2002 and was the longest lasting conflict in Africa. Since 1988, Blue Helmets were present in Angola as observers to the conflict between the communist movement MPLA (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola), to which president Jose Eduardo dos Santos belongs, and the UNITA (União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola), originally a Maoist movement.[citation needed]