The main aim of this essay is to evaluate the performance of Colombia during the nineties and specifically to determine why its economy became more unstable and vulnerable and with a lower rate of growth than previous years even though the high degree in depth and extend of political and economic reforms under taken. In order to achieve this aim the author first analyses the main reforms adopted and the debates that they generated and later On he carries out and questions the political economy of those reforma and their implications on the economy. The author then analyses the circumstances that allowed for a brief and unsustainable expansion that later led to the severe financial crisis of the decade. Finally, the author underlines some of the essential changes that are required of the present growth pattern of the country as a necessary condition in order to achieve a sustainable, and equitable development.