HAVANA - Fidel Castro was out of bed and talking following his intestinal surgery, Venezuela's president said Sunday as messages wishing the Cuban leader a quick recovery poured in from Latin America.

A photograph of Cuba's President Fidel Castro hangs in between buildings in Havana, August 6, 2006. Word filtered through the ranks of the Cuban Communist Party and government that Castro was recovering from surgery, but his location and exact condition remained a mystery on Sunday, a week after his unprecedented handover of power. [Reuters]

Cuban officials have provided no details and released no pictures of Castro since his surgery was announced last Monday, fueling speculation around the world about his condition. Raul Castro, the defense minister, also has not been seen in public since the announcement.

"How are you, Fidel?" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program, suggesting he believed the Cuban leader was watching. "We have reliable information of your quick and notable recuperation."

"Fidel Castro, a hug for you, friend and comrade, and I know you are getting better," Chavez said.

Talking by phone with Bolivian President Evo Morales later during the program, Chavez said that Castro was bouncing back quickly.

"This morning I learned that he's very well, that he is already getting out of bed, he's talking more than he should, because he talks a lot, you know. He has sent us greetings," Chavez said.

Morales said he was glad to learn of Castro's recovery, and "what's left is for him to be incorporated into the battle of his country" again. Saying Castro was like an "older brother," Morales added, "We hope to see our friend Fidel soon."

Before Castro fell ill, Morales had promised to travel to Havana for Castro's 80th birthday on Aug. 13 and bring him a cake made from the flour of coca leaves.

Former Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega arrived in Havana from Nicaragua late Saturday and said: "I am sure that we will soon have Fidel resuming his functions and leading his people."

Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy at the center of a dramatic international custody battle six years ago between his relatives in Miami, Fla. and his father in Cuba, joined the list of people wishing Castro a swift recovery.

"We send you this letter to let you know that we are worried about your health," Elian Gonzalez, now 12, wrote to Castro along with his half-siblings and cousins. The letter was published Sunday in the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde.

Morales, elected in December as Bolivia's first Indian president, said his government would send a high-level mission to Havana in the coming days, according to his spokesman Alex Contreras.

In a message to Castro on Tuesday, Morales referred to the Cuban leader as his "friend and brother" and wished him a speedy recovery "to continue in the trenches in the anti-imperialist struggle."

Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage on Saturday denied reports that Castro had stomach cancer and said the Cuban leader has "been made well by the operation and is recuperating favorably."

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the United States wants to help Cubans prepare for democracy but is not contemplating an invasion of the island in the wake of Castro's illness.

Cuban authorities have beefed up security by mobilizing citizen defense militias, increasing street patrols, and ordering decommissioned military officers to check in at posts daily.

Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the island's top churchman, called on parishioners Sunday to pray for the Castro's health, peace on the island, and fraternity among all Cubans, both here and abroad.

"We pray for the fatherland, for Cuba, and those who are leading it," Ortega told reporters in brief comments after his regular Sunday Mass at the cathedral in Old Havana.

Outside another church, a group of political prisoners' wives known as the Ladies in White held their weekly silent march after Sunday Mass without interruption by authorities.