complex data structure - insert value

[spar]

I'm converting a Perl script to Python and have run into something I'm
not sure how to do in Python.

In Perl, I am running through a couple loops and inserting values
directly into a complex data structure (array->hash->array). This
isn't the actual code, but should demonstrate the general idea:

foreach $bar_count(@bars) {
  foreach $el_count(@els) {
    $var = somefunc($bar_count,$el_count);
    $data[$bar_count]->{'CC'}->[$el_count] = $var;
  }
}

Basically I'd like to do the same thing in Python. I've written a
convoluted test script where I can print an element:

print data[0]['CC'][1]

but I can't insert directly like I do in Perl (data[0]['CC'][1] =
$var). In my test script I've simply initialized my lists and
dictionary at the beginning of the script, not by iterating an
inserting values as in the Perl example.

Any advice appreciated...thanks.