Jean Ferré was a supporter of "Algérie française". On this point he was in disagreement with de Gaulle. He had demanded that his team avoid polemics; however, Jean-François Chiappe wrote an article aggressively calling de Gaulle into question, describing him as a "paranoiac" with "intermittent delirium". The magazine was seized. Ferré continued for some time to publish it in the form of a confidential letter, which was itself seized in turn. In late 1960, Ferré paid a visit to General Salan who had fled to Spain. From this time onward, they would be collaborators. On 19 or 20 April 1961, it was Ferré who informed Salan of the plan for the Algiers putsch of 1961. This relationship made Ferré a wanted man, and he went underground.