Cuban human rights groups report more than 500 political arrests in September

There are many ways to measure the repression in Cuba.

For instance, you could count the number of politically motivated arrests, as two separate human rights groups do each much.

Various groups and individuals have opinions about conditions in Cuba, particularly the chances for real "reform" while the Castro regime is still in power.

But the numbers produced each much by the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation; and the Hablemos Press news agency/human rights group always cut through the rhetoric to reveal the reality of the human rights situation on the island.

This week, the human rights commission reported that there were 533 politically motivated arrests in September, bringing the total for the year to 5,105 -- almost 1,000 more than the number of arrests reported for all of 2011.

In a totalitarian state like Cuba, where the authorities have no sense of accountability, it is impossible for such counts to be exact, so Hablemos Press had a different number for political arrests in September: 504, bringing the total for the year to 4,140 -- almost 300 more than the number of arrests reported for all 2011.

Whichever count you rely on, the story they tell about Cuba today is indisputable.