Due to its strategic location, the Isthmus of Panama has long sparked the greed of major nations but also pirates and privateers operating in the Caribbean Sea. The papers of the diplomat Benoît Chassériau (1780-1844) enabled the reconstitution of the plan of four French adventurers, including the famous privateer Louis-Michel Aury, who had imagined in 1820 conquering Panama, then the possession of Spain. This project aimed to give France the means to strengthen and secure its trade in this region of the world. Unofficially, the Minister of the Navy and the Colonies, Pierre-Barthélémy Portal, declined their bold offer. This attempt would probably have been the first Panama Affair.