HAVANA — Fidel Castro was out of bed and talking following his intestinal surgery, Venezuela’s president said yesterday as messages wishing the Cuban leader a quick recovery poured in from Latin America’s leading leftists and Elian Gonzalez.

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

“How are you, Fidel?” President Chavez of Venezuela 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,” Mr. Chavez said.

Talking by phone with President Morales of Bolivia later during the program, Mr. Chavez said Mr. 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,” Mr. Chavez said.

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

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

A 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.”

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

“We send you this letter to let you know that we are worried about your health,” Elian, now 12, wrote to Mr. Castro along with his half-siblings and cousins. The letter was published yesterday in the communist youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde.

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

In a message to Mr. Castro on Tuesday, Mr. 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.”

Cuba’s vice president, Carlos Lage, on Saturday denied reports that Mr. 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 Rice said America wants to help Cubans prepare for democracy but is not contemplating an invasion of the island in the wake of Mr. Castro’s illness.

“The notion that somehow the United States is going to invade Cuba, because there are troubles in Cuba, is simply far-fetched,” Ms. Rice told NBC television. “The United States wants to be a partner and a friend to the Cuban people as they move through this period of difficulty and as they move ahead. But what Cuba should not have is the replacement of one dictator by another.”