Narratives on peace processes in Colombia do not often include the 1994 negotiations with the so-called "popular militia" in Medellín. This article analyzes the development and results of this process, revises the explanations of its failure which were produced in that time, and proposes an interpretation that appeals to a more profound institutional structure that gave way to the negotiation of disorder and the privatization of security, thus developing a thesis suggested by María Teresa Uribe.